church affairs.

He was active in the proceedings relating to the building of a new meeting-house. He was one of a committee appointed to confer with "our friends of the new Church, (i. e., the Second or South Church,) to see if they are of one mind and whether they will engage with us to build a House and unite into one Society." Then, when this project fell through, he was one of the committee chosen "to fix and determine the most accommodable place for setting up a Meeting House next the Great Street in Hartford." In 1728, he, with fifty-five others, signed an agreement to build, if the house could be located on the burying-ground, and finally that was the spot chosen for the new structure- with some variation in position, the site since occupied by the Center Church.*

It is significant of the little traveling that was done by most men in those days, that we have so little evidence of journeys made by Governor Talcott outside of the bounds of his government. He was chosen, first by Massachusetts, and then by New Hampshire, one of the commissioners to make a full and complete settlement of the boundaries between the two provinces, August 31, 1730. His colleagues were Major Roger Wolcott of Windsor, Adolph Phillipse, Esq., of New York, Colonel William Coddington, and Colonel John Wanton of Newport, and Mr. John Lydal of Boston. The two provinces had maintained a long and tedious controversy respecting the dividing lines between them, and it was not settled at this time. Governor Talcott was also chosen to settle the boundary between the Province of New Hampshire, and the late Province of Maine. The Assemblies of both Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, agreed to this appointment in February, 1730/31.

Governor Talcott's residence is still standing, though much changed and dilapidated. It is the old yellow

* History of the First Church, 270, 280.

building, long occupied by D. Brooks & Sons, as a stove and tinware store, and is on or near the site of the house built by John Talcott, his grandfather, in 1635It is said that a portion of the old structure was incorporated in the new one built by the Governor in 1725.

Of Governor Talcott's personal appearance and qualities we know but little. Some conclusions may be drawn from this correspondence, but the letters are so completely official that it is only here and there that we obtain a hint of personal matters. There is sometimes a trace of the positiveness and strong will ascribed to his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Talcott, by Secretary Allyn in his letter to Sir Edmond Andros, January 27, 1687, "but I suppose your Excellency will have a farther acco' from him about it (who loves to act his matters by himself)."* The anonymous ballad written in 1769, entitled "Observations on the Several Commanders of the Ship, Connecticut," bestows one verse on Governor Talcott, giving a more vivid description of him. than can be found anywhere else:

"The next upon the quarter-deck

Was Joe, as black as a cloud, Sir,
Who mustard loved full well, 'tis said,
But ne'er made or used Powder.
During his stay near half the Crew

Were seized with religious frenzies,

And about the ship from stem to stern

They aped St. Vitus' dances.

This truth is what I will maintain

Which I did then discover

When an Ass would run, give him the rein,

And his frolic will soon be over."

The last lines refer to the "New Lights" and the religious revival of 1740-42, to which there will be some

*Colonial Records, III. 438.

+ Published in the Historical Magazine, II. 4. First printed by J. H. Trumbull, LL. D., with annotations, in the Hartford Evening Press, July 6, 1857, and revised for the former. Reprinted at a later date in the Hartford Daily Courant.

allusions in the second volume of the correspondence. Governor Talcott did not consider it wise to use extreme measures against the Rev. James Davenport and his followers, who made themselves extremely obnoxious to the supporters of the "standing order."

The letters which passed between him and Belcher apparently indicate a degree of personal friendship, underneath official formalities, and as he writes to Belcher, May 29, 1728, [we] "look upon you to be at least half a Connecticut man by birth," it is probable that the latter was in Hartford more or less during his earlier and less distinguished days. Belcher mentions in his letter of May 7, 1733, "the long and dangerous sickness with which has pleased God to Visset you this last Winter." The Governor himself alludes to this illness in his application to the General Assembly in October, 1733, for an increase of salary, and that unquestionably was the reason why a number of official letters and documents were drawn up in the handwriting of Deputy-Governor Law in the autumn and winter of 1732/33. Governor Talcott's salary was apparently only £200 at first, but in 1727 was increased to £250, and was gradually enlarged, reaching the sum of £400 in 1739.

A paragraph in the Connecticut Courant, March, 1786, quoted from the Norwich Packer, gives a personal reminiscence of Governor Talcott. The writer says: "I remember as long ago as when the good Governor Talcott was at the head of this State, a poor simple

came to him one day complaining very bitterly of the hardness of the times, and the scarcity of money, and that he was unable to get any, and wondered why they did not make money, and would have him use his influence to have a bank made. After hearing the good man through he turns to him, and asks him if he had any pork or beef to sell? No. Any wheat or grain of any kind? No. Any butter, cheese, wool, or flax, for, says the Governor, if you have, I will give

C

you money for them. Why no, he had nothing to sell. Then, says the Governor, suppose we should make a bank of paper money how do you expect to get it? Why, truly he did not know."

The sudden death of the Governor's wife furnished him an opportunity of displaying his fortitude, and his devotion to his public duties. Madam Talcott died suddenly about noon on Thursday, May 25, 1738, after a morning session of the Houses, which had taken a recess till the afternoon. Deputy-Governor Law was in Norwich, attending the Commissioner's Court, where the Mohegan Case was in progress. Public business was pressing, and no session could be held without the presence of the Governor, or Deputy-Governor. "So," as Palfrey says, "the stout old Governor went from his house of mourning, and finished his darkened day in the hall of council."* An address of condolence was presented to the Governor by both Houses, which will appear in its proper place in the second volume. The expenses of Madam Talcott's funeral, £85, 15, o, were paid out of the public treasury. Scarfs were given to the Deputy-Governor, Major Wolcott, Capt. Wadsworth, the Assistants, the Speaker, the Clerk of the Lower House, the Secretary, and the two Ministers, (Rev. Mr. Wadsworth, and Rev. Mr. Whitman,) and one hundred and three pairs of gloves were given away.

and lies

Governor Talcott died October 11, 1741, buried in the old burying ground in the rear of the Center Church, beneath a table monument. The date on this stone, December, is erroneous, as has been proved

Mrs. Sigourney, in "Connecticut Forty Years Since," describes the death of Madam Talcott, the mother of her benefactress, Madam Lathrop. The mourner seemed to see her mother, the soft nurse of her infancy, the watchful monitress of her childhood, again smitten by an unseen hand, and covered suddenly with the paleness of the tomb: one moment bending over her plants in the sweet recesses of her garden, the next, lying lifeless among them, blasted by Him who maketh all the glory of man as the flower of grass.'" P. 22.

by the Hon. C. J. Hoadly from the Colonial Records.* It is evident that there was once a tablet inserted in the stone, bearing a coat of arms, but it disappeared long ago.

On receiving the news of Governor Talcott's death. the General Assembly appointed a committee, Capt. John Marsh, Capt. John Whiting, and Mr. James Church, to make the necessary provision, at the expense of the government, for his honorable interment at Hartford. Capt. George Phillips, commander of the Colony's sloop, Defence, was directed to perform the proper tokens and ceremonies of mourning on board the sloop, at the hour of the Governor's interment, "about four of the clock afternoon on the 13th day of October instant." It was also ordered that a salute should be fired on the green (in New Haven) at the same hour.t

In summing up Governor Talcott's character we may say that while not in any way a brilliant man he displayed sterling good sense, great faithfulness in performing the duties of his station, excellent judgment in managing the affairs entrusted to him, and a disinclination to follow extreme measures in any direction. He did not receive a collegiate education, but his natural abilities are evident, and he possessed the power, in spite of a somewhat involved and obscure style, of expressing his ideas clearly and forcibly. He also appears to have possessed executive ability, and the power of making others carry out his wishes and plans. He was straightforward and honest always, and in that respect a contrast to his friend, Governor Belcher, whose numerous

This is a modern inscription in place of a tablet destroyed, and the date is incorrect: it should be October. Two other tablets were formerly on the table but have now perished. One of them perhaps had armorial bearings. C. J. Hoadly, LL. D.

+ The account of the expenses of Governor Talcott's funeral is in the State Archives: Civil Officers, II. 436. The amount is £65.2.5, and Robert Sloan's bill includes an item of "59 pair Men's and Women's Glaz' Gloves, £29.10."