STEPHEN SMITH TALCOTT

& the DOW FAMILY

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES
PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 1299

STEPHEN SMITH TALCOTT (deceased), a prominent member of the old Talcott family, a sketch of which appears elsewhere, and long a manufacturer in Talcottville, Tolland county, was born in Bolton, Conn., April 4, 1834, son of Gurdon and Asenath (Fitch) Talcott, and grandson of Job Talcott and Elijah Fitch. Gurdon Talcott was the father of the following names children: Anson F.; Norman W.; Hiram; George; Lucius, who died in the service as a Union soldier during the Civil war; Stephen Smith; Charlotte A., widow of Lyman Tiffany, at Southampton, Mass.; Lydia M.; and Emily, who married Lewis Keeney, of Vernon.

Stephen Smith Talcott was married June 19, 1858, to Sarah E., daughter of Henry L. and Mary (Sumner) Dow. Her grandfather, Thomas Dow, was a native of Ashford, Conn., and was twice married, his second wife being Lydia Sumner. His children were as follows: Horatio, who became an eminent physician; Joseph, who followed in his brother's steps, and also became a physician; Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Butler, of Springfield, Mass.; Harriet, wife of Smith J. Bartlett, of Willimantic, Conn.; Thomas K., who died in Ashford, Conn., at the age of thirty years; and Henry L., father of Mrs. Talcott.

Henry L. Dow married Mary Sumner, who was born May 18, 1804, in Eastford, and died March 24, 1890. Her father was a farmer in Eastford, and both her parents were members of the Congregational Church. Mr. And Mrs. Henry L. Dow had the following children: (1) Mary married Emory C. Hawes, of Springfield, and had two daughters; she died April 26, 1860. (2) Hattie C. died June 22, 1864, at the age of twenty-eight. (3) Sarah E., born Nov. 22, 1837, married Stephen Smith Talcott. (4) Lydia Maria died Sept. 5, 1855, at the age of sixteen years. (6) Louise Catherine married J.D. Burnham, of Hartford, had three children, and died April 30, 1900, at the age of sixty years. Henry L. Dow, the father, died April 19, 1864, at the age of sixty years.

Mr. And Mrs. Stephen S. Talcott became the parents of two children: (1) Olin, born June 30, 1877, was married Jan. 2, 1901, to Gertrude F. Leonard, of Fall River, Mass. He is now one of the proprietors and a managing officer of the Granite Mill Company, an institution established by his father. (2) Nellie M., is the wife of Edwin D. Alvord, of Hartford.

Stephen Smith Talcott received his education in Bolton and in the East Academy, at Manchester Green. At the age of eighteen years he professed conversion, and was added to the membership of the Methodist Church at South Manchester. His business career soon began, and he quickly gained the confidence of his employer, H.E. Rogers, of South Manchester. In 1863 Mr. Talcott removed his family to Vernon, where he established the Granite Mills, in company with the Case Brothers and Horace Bidwell, the firm engaging in the manufacture of the binders' board. For eighteen years the management of the extensive and growing business was in the hands of Mr. Talcott. In 1881 the mill was destroyed by fire for third time, and on its rebuilding he practically retired from the firm, retaining only a small interest and giving up the management of affairs to younger and more ambitious men. For seven years he traveled extensively through the West, and established several important business enterprises at different points, one of them being a bank at Golden, Colo., which was afterward removed to Canon City.

During his active years, Mr. Talcott was intensely devoted to business, but he never allowed his business matters to abate in any degree his zeal for the faith. During his first year at Vernon he attended services at North Manchester, four miles away. Methodist meetings had at one time been held at Centerville, less than a mile from his residence, and Mr. Talcott was largely instrumental in building a sound and durable Methodist Church at that point, giving largely of both his time and money to insure its success. His zeal for the Church became noted, and his name is a conspicuous one in the annals of the workers of his denomination in this State, and, indeed, wherever he was found. Wherever he went he at once sought out the Methodist pastor, and entered heartily and enthusiastically into the work and worship of the church. When he was a mere boy he subscribed one hundred dollars for his church, a subscription his friends thought impossible for him to pay, but which he mat at the time appointed. He held it as a principle that he should give a tenth of his earnings to the Lord, and his benefactions were many and liberal. He entered into rest Nov. 6, 1888. His last hours were full of the joy of his faith, and his deathbed a translation into glory. To the last his peace flowed like a river.

Mr. Talcott, like all the others who bore his name, was an honored and useful member of the community, a man of public spirit, and intensely interested in everything that promised to improve the moral and intellectual interests of the community. As will be seen by a perusal of the history of the Talcott family, its members are an enlightened and progressive set of people, all men and women of intelligent lives, large views and strong moral sense. The present bearers of the name feel the obligation of duty and honor, and are walking in the footsteps of their distinguished progenitors.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel

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