************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ Submitted by Cheryl VanWomer OSCAR AND MARY (ACKLES) TALCOTT The ancestry of Oscar Talcott traces back through nine generations to (1st) John Talcott, of Colchester, Essex County, England, the date of whose birth is not known, and whose death occurred in 1606. His will may be found in the registry of the Commissary Court of the Bishop of London, dated Sept. 24, 1606. Second in line of descent was John Talcott, who was born previous to 1558 and died in 1604. He also left a will, which can be seen on the registry of the Court of Canterbury. 3d. John Talcott was born in England, and came to America with his family in the ship "Lyon," which sailed from England June 22, 1632, and arrived in Boston Sept. 16, 1632. the following are the names of some of the passengers: William Wadsworth, John Talcott, Joseph Roberts, John Cogsall, John Watson, Robert Shelly, William Heath, Richard Allis, Thomas Uskett, Isaac Murrill, John Wichfield, Jonathan Wade, Robert Bartlett, John Brown, John Churchman, Tobie Willet, William Curtis, Nie's Clark, Daniel Brewer, Jo. Benjamin, Richard Benjamin, William James, Thomas Carrington, William Goodwyn, John White, James Olmstedd, William Lewis, Zeth Graunt, Nathaniel Richards, Edward Collmer, Edward Holmes, Jo. Zotman, Charles Grover. These persons' names were taken from a book of records of emigrant found in Westminster Hall, England. The ship "Lyon" was commanded by Capt. Mason, and had one hundred and twenty-three passengers, fifty of whom were children, and all arrived in good health after a passage of twelve weeks from England. Many of these names became notable in our country's history. John Talcott and his wife (Doratha Mott) and their two children, Mary and John, were the only persons of this name who emigrated to this country. Their descendants in America bearing the name of Talcott number two thousand two hundred and sixty-six, of whom over seven hundred are now living. John Talcott and the company who came over at the same time settled in Newtown, now Cambridge, near Boston. In 1635, John Talcott built the first house in Hartford, Conn., and in the following year moved with his family. He was one of the chief magistrates of the colony until his death, which occurred at Hartford in March, 1660. He was buried in Hartford, and his name is inscribed upon the monument erected by the citizens of that place to perpetuate the memory of the founders of the colony of Connecticut. His son John, who resided in Hartford, was made an ensign in 1650, a captain in 1660, was elected an assistant magistrate of the colony of Connecticut before it was joined to New Haven, May 18, 1654, and treasurer to succeed his father, May 17, 1660, which office he held till 1676. He was one of the patentees named in the charter of Charles the First, granted to Connecticut, April 20, 1662, which document was intrusted to Wyllis, Talcott, and Allyn for safekeeping. In 1676, on the breaking out of the King Philip war, he resigned the office of treasurer and was appointed to the command of the army, with the rank of major, and in June of that year went into the field at the head of the standing army of Connecticut, accompanied by two hundred Mohegan and Pequot Indians. In the various battles with the Indians in which he was engaged he was always victorious, and obtained great renown as an Indian-fighter. Many of his official papers are on record in the secretary of state's office at Hartford, and are interesting relics of the memorable King Philip war. His son, Joseph Talcott, born in Hartford, Conn., Nov. 16, 1669, was the first Governor of Connecticut born within its limits, and occupied that position from 1724 to 1741, a period of seventeen years. 4th. Samuel Talcott was born in Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass. 1634. He was the founder and original proprietor of Glastonbury. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1658, and became a man of exceeding culture and attainments. He died at Wethersfield, Conn., Nov. 10, 1691. 5th. Cornet Samuel Talcott was born in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1662, and died April 28, 1698, at the early age of thirty-six years. 6th. Samuel Talcott was born in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1696, and died May 6, 1739. 7th. Ebenezer Talcott was born in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1731, and died Aug. 25, 1795. 8th. Joseph Talcott was born in Wethersfield, Conn., and died in Madison, N. Y., June 17, 1832. 9th. Ebenezer Talcott, son of Joseph Talcott and Anna Boardman, was born at Wethersfield, Conn., July 20, 1804, and came with his father to Madison, N. Y., in 1816, and married Rubie S. Risley (born June 3, 1809), of Madison, N. Y., June 13, 1827. Their family, comprising seven children, were Nelson, Cornelia, Oscar, Chauncey, Irving, George, and Amelia. Ebenezer Talcott and family moved from Madison, N. Y., to Ronald, Mich., in the spring of 1848, encountering the romance and hardships of pioneer life; were ten days on the Erie Canal, four of which were spent in a blockade at Lockport, and ten days penetrating the forests of Michigan from Detroit to Ionia County,--a journey which then took twenty-one days can now be accomplished from surnise to sunrise again. It is an old story, and has been rehearsed too many times to repeat here the hardships and privations encountered battling with the forest and struggling to hew out a home and provide for the wants of a numerous family without money; yet these were seemingly but slight inconveniences to the record of John Talcott and those with him, who were twelve weeks in their passage from England in 1632, and who encountered the rigor of the inhospitable and barbaric shores of New England, first at Newtown, now Cambridge, and next erecting the first shelter in the forest where now stands the beautiful city of Hartford. Next, Samuel Talcott, striking out into the wild forests of the Connecticut River, occupying a tract purchased by his father in 1643, encountering not only the hardships, but endangered by prowling hostile Indians, whose war-path was marked by the blood of many victims. And again, Joseph Talcott, grandfather of Oscar, leaving with his family in 1816 what had become the beautiful valley of the Connecticut, wandering his way into the forests of Central New York; and now his grandchildren can rehearse tales told by the old fireside of encounters with prowling bears, howling wolves, and hostile Indians. The subject of this narrative, Oscar Talcott, the third in his father's family, was born at Madison, N. Y., April 12, 1836, and was twelve years old when his father moved to Michigan. The advantages at that time in a forest-home for education were meagre indeed, and his aspirations to acquire knowledge and culture were somewhat satiated after walking five times to Hillsdale to attend college, distant one hundred miles from his home. His present farm homestead in Ronald was a forest when purchased by himself and brothers in 1859. He was married to Mary. A. Ackles (born at Tully, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1839), at Grand Rapids, Mich., March 4, 1861. Mrs. Talcott is a woman of culture, gentle, unassuming manners, an exceeding favorite with her friends and all who know her, and enjoys the unreserved and unbounded affection of her family. Their family of three children are Ettie May, born at Ronald, Mich., April 11, 1863; Julia Harriet, born at Ronald Dec. 12, 1866; and Bertha Bell, born at Ronald Jan. 4, 1869. Oscar Talcott and family have resided at Ionia, Mich., since the spring of 1876, and where he built a residence in 1877. the family all cherish their homestead in Ronald, to which they expect to remove when he is released from the office which requires his attention at Ionia. Mr. Talcott has filled various offices of trust, most prominent of which is secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Ionia County. To this position he was elected first Jan. 11, 1870, and has been five times re-elected, holding that position now for eleven years. At the time of his first taking charge of this business the company had a capital of one million eight hundred thousand dollars. The capital of this company now is seven million two hundred thousand dollars, and afford the cheapest insurance on farm property the records of our country has ever known. The popularity of this company under its present management is discussed and quoted as a model for imitation in all parts of the State. In all the records of the Talcott family, for a period of over three hundred years, a prominent characteristic is their devotion and adherence with some known Church founded upon the principles and faith of the New Testament. Mr. Talcott and all his family are member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ionia. This biography is taken from "HISTORY OF IONIA AND MONTCALM COUNTIES, MICHIGAN" by John S. Schenck. Philadelphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 1881. Pages 171-172. City of Ionia.