Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

ENCYCLI >PEDIA I
came from England in [631 to Charli
town, Massachusetts, and eventually set
tied in Southampton, Long island. His
son Robert removed thence to New
Haven, Connecticut. James Talmadge,
grandson of Robert Talmadge, was a
noted man in Colonial times, and commanded
the onlj troop oi cavalry in I !onnecticut.
I lis son, Benjamin Talmadge,
bom in New Haven, graduated from
Vale, studied theology, and for over thirty
years was pastor of the church at Se-
tauket, Long Island. He married (first)
Susanna Smith, of White Plains. New
York, a descendant of Rev. Thomas
Hooker; and 1 second ) Zipporah Strong,
of Brook Haven, Long Island.
Colonel Benjamin Talmadge, son of
Rev. Benjamin Talmadge by his first
wife, was horn in Brook Haven, Long
Island. February 25, 1754. and died in
Litchfield, Connecticut, March 7, [835.
He graduated from Yale College at the
age of nineteen, and for three years
taught school In 1776 he entered the Con-
necticut military service with the rank of
lieutenant; in December of the same year
was promoted captain ; and major in the
spring following. lie commanded the
confidence of General Washington, who
on occasion gave him an independent
command and entrusted him with confi-
dential missions. He fought at Short
Hills, Brandywine and Germantown, and
did good service at Monmouth, and was
promoted to colonel. Perhaps his most
notable feat was his attack on Fort
George, Long Island, in 1780, which he
captured, returning without the loss of a
man. Congress sent him a resolution of
thanks, and General Washington a letter
of congratulation. His achievements are
given in his official correspondence with
the commander-in-chief, and in his own
autobiography. He was in command at
the execution of Major Andre, whom he
281
>F BIOGRAPHY
accompanied to the scaffold. Hi-- acquaintance
with the unfortunate man
caused him sympath) and grief, and
Andre fittingly appreciated his kind and
thoughtful conduct. < >nc of
l oloiicl Tal-
madge's most prized souvenirs of the
Revolution was the portrait of Washing
ton which he received from that great
man. Colonel Talmadge posed for the
lower part of the famous portrait of
\\ ashington by Trumbull, at request of
\\ ashington himself, who was much occupied
with public affairs, and who
declared that Colonel Talmadge's legs
were an exact pattern of his own.
After the war, Colonel Talmadge made
his home in Litchfield, Connecticut, where
he became a successful merchant and
banker. He was a member of Congress
from 1801 to 1817, when he retired. He
married (first) March [8, 1784, Mary,
daughter of General William Floyd, of
New York, a representative in the Con-
tinental Congress, a signer of the Declara-
tion of Independence, and a governor of
New York. They were the parents of a
notable family of children. The mother
died June 3, 1805. Colonel Talmadge
married (second) Maria Ilallett, daugh-
ter of his old friend, Joseph Flallett, of
New York. She survived her husband a
little more than three years, dying Sep-
tember 18, 1838.
INGERSOLL, Charles Roberts,
Lawyer, Legislator, Governor.
Governor Charles Roberts Ingersoll, a
man of lofty character and an official of
commanding ability, came of a distinguished
ancestry. The family originated
in England, and the American branch was
planted in Connecticut, at Hartford, prior
to 1655, by John Ingersoll.
Jonathan Ingersoll, grandson of John
Ingersoll, born in Stratford, Connecticut.