Samuel A. Talcott

Samuel Austin Talcott (December 31, 1789 Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut – March 19, 1836 New York City) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He was the son of Samuel Talcott (1740-1798, grandson of Joseph Talcott, Colonial Governor of Connecticut) and Abigail Ledyard Talcott. On May 28, 1810, he married Rachel Skinner; their son was John Ledyard Talcott (b. 1812), a justice of the New York Supreme Court.

He practiced law at New Hartford, New York. There he married, in 1818, his second wife, Mary Eliza Stanley (1800-1848), and their son was Thomas Grosvenor Talcott (1819-1870).

He was a leading member of the Albany Regency and was New York State Attorney General from 1821 to 1829, when he was forced to resign "due to irregular habits", a then-used euphemism for what is now called a "drinking problem". Afterward, he practiced law in New York City.

He is mentioned briefly as a character in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, written by Elizabeth George Speare in 1958.

Sources

• Talcott genealogy
• List of NY State Attorneys General, at Office of the Att. Gal. of NY
• Bio and photo of his son John, at The Historical Society of the Courts in the State of NY
• Talcott genealogy, at rootsweb (giving wrong birthplace)
• Political Graveyard
• His second marriage, info at New Hartford Public Library
• Info on his father-in-law F. Stanley, at The NYG&B
• List of NY State Attorneys General, at Office of the Att. Gal. of NY
• Marriage records Talcott/Skinner
• Samuel A. Talcott at Find a Grave