Benjamin Tallmadge collection

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Benjamin Tallmadge collection

1777-1864

https://archives.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/repositories/2/resources/64

The Benjamin Tallmadge Collection documents the personal life and professional career of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge through his correspondence as well as his legal, financial, and personal papers. An army officer, chief intelligence officer, and organizer of the Culper spy ring during the Revolutionary War, Tallmadge became a businessman and U.S. Representative from Connecticut in Congress after the war. The collection contains Tallmadge's duplicate original letters to George Washington concerning military operations and Tallmadge's operations of the secret service during the Revolutionary War. These letters record not only detailed summaries of battles, movements of troops, and requests for provisions, but also the activities of spies and communications of their intelligence. Many of the letters are written in cipher. Also included are two original letters from Washington to Tallmadge concerning military administration. The letters also record Tallmadge's business activities after the war, especially in his correspondence with his son-in-law, John Paine Cushman, a lawyer in New York and, from 1817-1819, U. S. Representative of New York in Congress, whose advice and assistance Tallmadge frequently sought for his financial transactions. In addition, legal documents, accounts, and bills and receipts illuminate Tallmadge's business ventures, especially his purchases and sales of land in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio, with references to the Ohio Company and Western Reserve. Other items include accounts for Tallmadge's store in Litchfield, Connecticut; receipts documenting his investment in privateering ships; and indentures of African Americans and bills of sale of enslaved people. Moreover, his letters to Cushman reveal their opinions on national politics and government, especially during Cushman's own service in Congress. Meanwhile, his letters to his daughter, Maria (Tallmadge) Cushman, document the religious revival movement in New England, in which Tallmadge took great interest, describing the activities of such revivalist preachers as Lyman Beecher, Asahel Nettleton, and Nathan Beman. These letters also provide insight into the social and personal activities of the Tallmadge and Cushman families in Litchfield and elsewhere. Occasionally, the letters are appended by notes to Maria from Tallmadge's second wife, Maria (Hallett) Tallmadge. The collection also contains correspondence and business papers of Tallmadge's son, Frederick Augustus Tallmadge, which primarily concern Frederick Tallmadge's publication of his father's memoirs.

2.08 linear ft.

eng, Latn

Litchfield Historical Society

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8146605

Related Entities

There are 16 Entities related to this resource.

Talmadge family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qp53k0 (family)

B. Tallmadge & Co. (Litchfield, Conn.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w677061b (corporateBody)

Ohio Company (1786-1795)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ht7f0s (corporateBody)

Cushman family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67t6jgf (family)

Tallmadge (Family : Tallmadge, Benjamin, 1754-1835)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tn847n (family)

Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835) acted as principal director of George Washington's secret service from 1778-1783, after the death of Nathan Hale. He won distinction as a field officer, notably at the capture of Fort St. George, Long Island, in 1780. With his leadership, Washington was able to create a strong and successful chain of spies throughout the New York area, beginning the secret service in America. These agents, primarily the Culper Spy Ring, gathered information for Washington, which gr...

Tallmadge, Benjamin, 1754-1835

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6359cf8 (person)

Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835) acted as principal director of George Washington's secret service from 1778-1783, after the death of Nathan Hale. He won distinction as a field officer, notably at the capture of Fort St. George, Long Island, in 1780. With his leadership, Washington was able to create a strong and successful chain of spies throughout the New York area, beginning the secret service in America. These agents, primarily the Culper Spy Ring, gathered information for Washington, which gr...

Dwight, Timothy, 1752-1817

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cs6jfw (person)

Congregational clergyman and president of Yale; b. in Northampton, Mass. From the description of Deed, 1796. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70976415 Timothy Dwight was born on May 14, 1752 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1769 (B.A.) and 1772 (M.A.). He served Yale as tutor (1771-1777), Livingston Professor of Divinity (1795-1817), and President (1795-1817). He died on January 11, 1817 in New Haven, Connecticut. From the desc...

Cushman, Maria Tallmadge, 1790-1878

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qc0s9p (person)

Resident of Litchfield, Conn. From the description of Maria Tallmadge Cushman home remedies notebook, 1840-1864. (Litchfield Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 741355493 ...

Destouches, Charles-René-Dominique Sochet, 1727-1794

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w66nx6 (person)

French naval officer. From the description of Charles-René-Dominique Sochet Destouches papers, 1781-1784. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79423656 Charles-René-Dominique Sochet Destouches was second in command to Chevalier de Terney the head of the fleet of Expédition particulière, the French expeditionary army under the command of Rochambeau. The expedition arrived to Rhode Island in July 1780 and was stationed in Newport. Destouches assumed command of the fleet during d...

Cushman, John P. (John Paine), 1784-1848

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67w70z5 (person)

Washington, George, 1732-1799

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r31qfk (person)

George Washington (b. Feb. 22, 1732, Westmoreland County, Va.-d. Dec. 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, VA) was the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Washington came from a family of farmers and landowners. He had little education but showed an aptitude for mathematics. He used this talent to become a surveyor. At 15, Washington took a job as assistant surveyor on a team sent to map the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia. In his early 20s, Washington joined the Virgin...

Tallmadge, Frederick Augustus, 1792-1869

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x93wdk (person)

Frederick Augustus Tallmadge (1792-1869), the son of Benjamin Tallmadge, was born in Litchfield, CT. He graduated from Yale College in 1811; studied law in the Litchfield Law School; was admitted to the bar in 1811, and began practice in New York City in 1813. He served as captain in the War of 1812. He became a member of the board of aldermen of New York City in 1834; served as common councilman in 1836; became a member of the State senate 1837-1840; and recorder of the city of New York 1841-18...

Deming, Julius, 1755-1838

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6058hcq (person)

Merchant, of Litchfield, Conn.; served as assistant commissary general for the Eastern Division of the Continental Army during the American Revolution; involved in the China trade and other business ventures. From the description of Julius Deming letter, 1798 Oct. 5 (Litchfield Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 747821006 ...

Reeve, Tapping, 1744-1823

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d50tbp (person)

American lawyer. From the description of Autograph letter signed : to Mr. Brown, 1797 Dec. 28. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270616563 From the description of Autograph letter signed : to Hezekiah Howe, 1817 Apr. 23. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270616566 Jurist and educator. From the description of Note of Tapping Reeve, circa 1775. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79449721 Jurist, law teacher, author of legal books, founder of Litchfield Law ...

Cushman family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n96gzf (family)

Hooker, Asahel, 1762-1813

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69s296q (person)