Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/45

Rh of them desired to make known what they had done in the way of charity, and were careful never to allude to favors they had bestowed on those in need. During the last ten years of her life she distributed at least $300,000 in charity and for the support of the Universalist society, of which she and her husband were members. During the last two years of her life she founded and sup- f)orted two homes or day-nurseries where poor aboring women could leave their children in care- ful hands while they were at work. In making her will Mrs. Talcott, after bequeathing a liberal part of her estate of $450,000 to her relatives, di- rected that the residue be equally divided into three parts and placed in trust with her three nieces to distribute as each might think best for religious, educational, or charitable purposes.

TALIAFERRO, Benjamin, soldier, b. in Vir- ginia in 1750; d. in Wilkes county, Ga., 3 Sept., . He served in the Revolutionary army in the rifle corps commanded by Gen. Daniel Morgan, and participated in the battles of Saratoga and Mon- mouth and in the siege of Savannah, and was taken prisoner by the British at the surrender of Charles- ton, 12 May, 1780. Afterward he settled in Geor- gia, was a member of the state senate, and a dele- fate to the Constitutional convention of 1798. Uected to congress, he served from 2 Dec, 1799, till his resignation in 1802. Subsequently he was judge of the superior court.

TALIAFERRO, John, member of congress, b. in Spottsylvania county, Va., in 1768 ; d. at u Hag- ley," King George co., Va., 12 Aug., 1853. He was •elected to congress from Virginia as a Democrat, serving from 1801 till 1803, and from 1811 till 1813. He was again chosen to fill a vacancy in 1824, and served from 8 April of that year till 3 March, 1831, and again from 1835 till 1843. He was a presidential elector in 1805 on the Jefferson ticket and in 1821 on the Monroe ticket, and served as librarian of the treasury department in Washington in 1850-3.

TALIAFERRO, William Booth (tol-li-ver), soldier, b. in Belleville, Gloucester co., Va., 28 Dec, . He was educated at Harvard and at William and Mary college, where he was graduated in 1841. He became captain in the 11th U. S. infantry, 9 April, 1847, major of the 9th infantry, 12 Aug., 1847, and was mustered out, 26 Aug., 1848. At the beginning of the civil war he was made colonel in the provisional army of Virgina, 1 May, 1861, and he rose to be brigadier-general in the Confed- erate service, 4 March, 1862, and major-general, 1 Jan., 1865. He commanded the Confederate troops in 1861 at Gloucester point, Va., took part in the engagements at Carrick's Ford, Va., 13 July, and in most of the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia to March, 1863, when he was placed in •charge of the district of Savannah, Ga. In July of the same year he commanded the troops anil defences on Morris island, S. C, and in August following the forces on James island. In February, 1864, he led a division in Florida, consisting of four brigades. In May, 1864, he was put in com- mand of the 7th military district of South Carolina, and in December following he was assigned to the command of the district of South Carolina. In January, 1865, he led a division composed of the brigades of Elliott, Rhett, and Anderson. Gen. Tal- iaferro was a member of the general assembly of Virginia for ten years and Democratic presidential •elector in 1856. He was grand-master of Masons in Virginia in 1876-'7, and member of the boards of visitors of Virginia military institute, of the Mechanical and agricultural college of the state, of William and Mary college, and of the State normal school for the education of women.

TALLMADGE, Benjamin, soldier, b. in Brook- haven, N. Y., 25 Feb., 1754 ; d. in Litchfield, Conn., 7 March, 1835. His father, Benjamin, was a clergy- man. After graduation at Yale in 1773 the son had charge of a high- school in Wethers- field until20 June, 1776, when he was appointed lieuten- ant and adjutant in a Connecti- cut regiment and served through- out the Revolu- tionary war. On 15 Dec, 1776, he was appointed by Gen. Washington captain in the 2d light dragoons, and he was pro- moted major on 7 April, 1777. A separate detach- ment for special services was committed to him several times during the war, and he then received his orders directly from the commander-in-chief. He participated in the battles of Short Hills and Brandywine, and at Germantown his detachment was at the head of Gen. John Sullivan's division. By order of Gen. Washington, Maj. Tallmadge repeatedly threw his dragoons across the principal thoroughfare to check the retreat of the infantry. He was stationed with his troops at Valley Forge in 1777, reconnoitred the country between Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, and served at Monmouth. On 5 Sept., 1779, he became colonel, and performed a brilliant exploit in crossing Long Island sound to Lloyd's Neck, L. I., where he surprised and captured 500 Tory marauders without the loss of a man. In 1780 he planned and conducted the expedition that resulted in the taking of Fort George at Oyster Bay, L. I., and the destruction of the British stores on the island, for which service he received the thanks of congress. He was for some time a member of Washington's military family and carried on with him an important confidential correspondence in 1778-'83. Col. Tallmadge had the custody of Maj. John Andre until his execution, and walked with him to the scaffold, where they bade an affectionate farewell. Years afterward Tallmadge wrote: "I became so deeply attached to Major Andre that I can remember no instance where my affections were so fully absorbed in any man. When I saw him swinging under the gibbet it seemed for a time as if I could not support it." After the war he returned to Litchfield, where he engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to congress as a Federalist and served from 7 Dec, 1801, till 3 March, 1817. Col. Tallmadge was made the first treasurer and subsequently president of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati, and was much esteemed for his social qualities and numerous gifts to public and private charities. In 1782 he bought the property in Litchfield that is still known as the Tallmadge Place, and is now the summer residence of his granddaughter, Mrs. William Curtis Noyes. Yale gave him the degree of M. A. in 1778. He prepared his "Memoirs at the Request of his Chil-