The Founders of Hartford
John Talcott was born in Braintree, Co. Essex, the son of John and Anne (Skinner) Talcott, and grandson of
 John Talcott, of Colchester, Co. Essex, living there in 1558, died in 1606, who was a son of
John Talcott of
Warwickshire. The Herald's visitation of Essex in 1558 gives the pedigree and arms of this family.1 John
Talcott the emigrant was a minor when his father died in 1604, and not of age in 1606, when he is mentioned in the
will of his grandfather, who left him £40 to be paid when he reached the age of twenty one. He m. in England, Dorothy,
dau. of Mark Mott, of Braintree, son of Thomas Mott, of Sheme Hall, Co. Essex. He sailed from England, June 22, 1632,
in the “Lion,” with others of Mr. Hooker's company, and arrived in Boston Sept. 16, 1632; freeman, Mass., Nov.
6, 1632; deputy, May, 1634; March, 1634-5 ; May, 1635 ; March, 1635-6 ; May,1636 ; removed to Hartford in 1636. His
son, Lt. Col. John Talcott, states in his memorandum book : “The kitchen that now stands on the north side of
the house that I live in was the first house that my father built in Hartford, in Conn. colony, and was done by
Nicholas Clark, the first winter that any Englishman rought or built in Hartford, which was in the year 1635. My father
and mother and his family came to Hartford in the year 1636, and lived first in said Kitchen, which was first on the
west side of the chimney. The great barn was built in the year 1636, and underpined in 1637, and was the first barn
that was raised in the colony. The east side of this house that we live in, and was my father Talcott's, deceased,
was built with the porch that is, in the year 1638, and the chimneys were built in 1638.” His bome-lot, in
the distribution of 1639, was on the east side of Main St., and his house stood or the present corner of Main and
Talcott Sts. Townsman, 1638. He was one of the Committee, who for the first time sat with the Court of Magistrates,
1637, and Deputy every following year until 1654, when he was chosen Assistant, also Treasurer of the colony,
1654-1659; and one of the two Commissioners of the New England Colonies. He d. March, 1659-60; inv. £1645. 8. 4. ;
his widow, Dorothy, d. Feb., 1669-70.-Ch.: i. Mary, m. June 28, 1649, the Rev. John Russell, of Wethersfield, afterward
of Hadley ; d. between 1655 and 1660. ii. Lt.-Col. John, m. Oct 29, 1650, Helena, dau. of John Wakeman, of
New Haven ; freeman, 1652 ; townsman, 1653; deputy, 1660, 1661 ; chosen Treasurer to succeed his father. May 17,
1660, which office he held until 1676, when he resigned, and was appointed to the command of the troops raised for
King Philip's War. He was always victorious, and obtained great renown as an Indian fighter. He was one of the
patentees named in the Charter of 1662, and that document was intrusted to Wyllys, Talcott, and Allyn, for safe
keeping. His wife, Helena, d. June 21, 1674 ; and he m. (2) Nov. 9, 1676, Mary Cook. He d. in Hartford, July 23,
1688, leaving a numerous family. His son, Joseph, was Gov. of Conn., 1724-1741. The Governor's descendants now
occupy the dwelling-house on Main Street, built by Col. Samuel Talcott, his son, in 1770. iii. Samuel, b. in
Cambridge, about 1635 ; grad. Harvard College, 1658 ; m. Nov. 7, 1661, Hannah, dau. of Elizur and Mary (Pynchon)
Holvoke, of Springfield; freeman, 1662; townsman, Hartford, 1665; he settled at Wethersfield upon land given him by
his father; Commissioner for Wethersfield, 1669-84; deputy, 1670-84 ; Secretary, 1684, “in the absence of
Capt. Allyn.” May 16, 1676, while King Philip's War was raging, he was appointed one of the Standing
Council; appointed Capt. of the troop of Hartford County, Oct., 1681 ; Assistant from 1685, excepting under
Andros's administration, until his death, Nov. 10, 1691. His wife, Hannah, d. Feb. 2, 1679, and he m. (2) Aug., 1679,
Mary -. He is the ancestor of those of the name in Glastonbury and Wethersfield.
1 See Harleian MSS., 1137, p. 148 ; &lea Talcott Pedigree, 7-21.
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