[4] Ohio Secretary of State Carter B. Harlan died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 9, 1840.

[5] Governor Shannon appointed Trevitt to the position on a temporary basis until the Ohio General Assembly met early in 1841 to elect a successor.

[2][7] In 1851, a new constitution in Ohio made the Secretary of State an elective position, and Trevitt defeated the Free Soil Party incumbent and a Whig, and was re-elected in 1853.

From 1857 to 1860, Trevitt was consul to Valparaíso, Chile, and 1860–1861 to Callao, Peru, by appointment of President Franklin Pierce.

He established the Sunday Morning News in November 1867, and published it until selling in 1870.