Edmund Talbot

Linda Carol Lewis Dumas

March 2001

Edmund Talbot was, according to the best information available, the youngest child of Matthew II, and his wife, Mary Haile (Hale) Day. Edmund's mother, Mary, descended from the first families of Virginia and Maryland, and his father, Matthew, was the child of Matthew Talbot and Mary Williston. The Willistons are said in VIRKUS COMPENDIUM OF AMERICAN GENEALOGY to have come to Maryland in 1676, but documentation has not yet been discovered. Edmund Talbot was born in Campbell County, Virginia on 28 March 1765. His birth date is given on his tombstone.

He moved with his parents into eastern Tennessee, and from there into Georgia. In Georgia, Edmund married Mary Harvey, who was the daughter of John Harvey of Washington County, Georgia and his first wife, Margaret. John Harvey was a pioneer Baptist preacher in Georgia, being called a very distinguished and useful minister in his day in the HISTORY OF THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION IN GEORGIA. Mary's grandfather was Thomas Harvey who received land grants in Craven County, South Carolina from June 6 1765 to November 18 1774. Salley's Stub Indents to Revolutionary Claims in South Carolina shows three payments to Thomas Harvey, one to Captain Thomas Harvey, late of Colonel Hammond's regiment (Books L-N p 77) to Mr. Thomas Harvey for the hire of a store and cellar for the Commissary of prisoners in 1780 (Books Y-Z p 76) and May 21 to Thomas Harvey for the loss of a horse at the siege of Augusta (books Y-Z p 167. He was granted land in Georgia as a Revolutionary soldier and he and his sons were living in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1785. Wilkes County fell into Greene County with the organization of that county, and the records show that Thomas Harvey died in that county about 1792. Letters of administrations were granted April 3 1792. Greene County, Georgia Court Minutes. Thomas Harvey's wife is identified only as Rachel. Mary Harvey died in 1807.

John Bennet Bodie, source of the Harvey Information in HISTORICAL SOUTHERN FAMILIES Vol. I, refers to Edmund Talbot as a distinguished early Baptist minister. Edmund was ordained at Williamson's Swamp Church in Washington County, Georgia and served his God from then on to his death. He began to preach in Jones County, Georgia between 1810 and 1820. In the next decade he was in Houston County, Georgia along with his first cousin Susan Kendrick and her husband William Harrison. Edmund was one of the first settlers of Stewart County, Georgia, being there in 1830.

Edmund and Mary Talbot had seven children together before Mary's death in about 1807. Their children were William Harvey (5 Sep 1790 - 3 Jan 1863), who married Caroline Talbot on 6 January 1820 (Caroline was the daughter of Thomas Talbot, Edmund's older brother, and a first cousin of William Harvey); Sally, who married a Mr. Davis of Georgia; John, who married Irene Vasseur; Martha, who married Allen Ashburn of Georgia on 29 November 1821 in Jones County; Mathew, who married Harriet Sarah Gayle, and was reported to have been in Matagorda, Texas in 1804. See the Talbot web site for more on this family. ; Pauline Mary (Polly) who married Wiley Bullard of Georgia on 26 Sep 1833, and Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Walker of Georgia. Edmund, according to Robert H. Fletcher, author of GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF MATHEW TALBOT, GENTLEMAN, remarried after Mary's death. Mr. Fletcher states that Edmund's second wife's name was unknown to him, but that her family was Canthorn/Cauthorn, and she was the widow of a Mr. McCulloch. See the Talbot web site for further information on this family.

Mrs. Marvin Scott, in her HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY, ALABAMA, stated that Mrs. Talbot was named Susannah and was b. 22 November 1775 and died in 1843. Mrs. Scott states that the Reverend Edmund Talbot lived on a Chattahoochee River plantation, though he owned a large amount of property in Columbia, Alabama. Scott goes on to say: He [Edmund] also gave property for the location of both the Baptist and Methodist Churches near the School. Both were later moved. According to the OLD SPARTA AND ELBA LAND RECORDS, Edmund Talbot acquired the right to land in Henry County on July 2, 1836. That is the date recorded in the book. His actual acquisition, according to Government Land Office Records was the 15 August 1837. His land holdings totaled about 320 acres. All were in Township Four.

Some of the oldest citizens said he gave the land for the cemetery in Columbia, Alabama where he is buried. He built the old Baptist church and was pastor for sixteen years. He was a unique character. He performed many wedding ceremonies and claimed the privilege of being the first to kiss the bride. Many slaves were members of his church. He was always kind to his slaves and had them in for daily prayers. In the 1850 Slave Census of Henry Count, Alabama, dated October 1, 2, Edmund has 14 slaves, ranging from 15 to 70 years old. Seven are male and seven are female. In the 1850 Henry County Census, Edmund is erroneously listed as Edwin, is aged 83, Preacher, $4000 in real estate, born Virginia. In 1840 Edmond Talbot is listed in Henry Co., AL with One male under 5, one 60-70, and one 70-80. One female is 20-30, one is 30-40, and one is 60-70. While living in Henry County, Edmund was a stepfather to John Cawthorn Wilson, whom he reared as his own son.

Edmund Talbot's daughter, Martha Talbot Ashburn, had also moved to Stewart County, Georgia, along with her husband, Allen. Allen Ashburn was the son of Elisha and Mary Ashburn, and could trace his ancestry back to John Ashburn, who was living in Virginia by the 1600's. Martha Talbot died sometime after 1830 and probably before 1840. Allen is not listed on the Georgia census in 1840, but his name returns in 1850. As he was listed as working as an overseer in 1850 and 1860, perhaps that was his occupation in 1840, thus not having his name listed as a property owner. In 1850, Martha and Allen Ashburn's children, Martha Ann and Cinderella were living with the John Boyer family and the John Talbot (Irene Vasseur) family, respectively. At this time, I do not know the identity of the Boyers. Edmund's granddaughter Cinderella died in her teens. His granddaughter Martha Ann married James Hamilton Metcalf in Stewart County, Georgia on 20 November 1850. Martha had three children: Mary Susan, b. 27 July, 1852; Hiram Henry, b. 1854, and Martha Cinderella b. 1856. Martha died about a month after the birth of Mattie on 4 December 1856. It is a reasonable assumption that she died from a childbed fever or other complications of the birth. After Martha Ann Ashburn died, her husband remarried to Nancy Roeton Snell and they had a son, James Andrew Metcalf. James Hamilton Metcalf was killed in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on 29 November 1864.

By Susannah, his second wife, Edmund Talbot had Eliza, who married a Mr. Cason and resided in Florida; Amelia, who married a Mr. Porter; and Amanda, who married Dr. A. I. Robinson of Columbus, Georgia. For further information on these descendants, see the Talbot Web Site. Edmund lived out his days in Henry County, Alabama, dying at the age of 88 within a month of his 89th birthday. His tombstone and that of his wife Susannah are located in the Columbia, Alabama Cemetery in Houston County, Alabama. His record, on the website reads: Edmund J. Talbot, 03-28-1765 to 02-18-1854 husband of Susannah Talbot and hers reads Mrs. Susannah Talbot 11-22-1775 12-01-1843, wife of Edmund Talbot (elder), baptized 1813.

The author, Linda C. Lewis Dumas is descended from Edmund Talbot as follows: Edmund Talbot>Martha Talbot Ashburn>Martha Ann Ashburn Metcalf>Mary Susan Metcalf Lewis>James Warren Lewis>John Franklin Lewis>Linda Carol Lewis Dumas.

February 19, 2001