NAVAL HERO SILAS TALBOT DISCUSSES ELECTION PROSPECTS, 1793

Silas Talbot (1751-1813)  2-page  ALS, dated New York, 1 March 1793 and addressed to Judge Joshua Mersereau, Esquire.    Talbot, Revolutionary War naval hero and future captain of Old Ironsides,  responds to friend and political ally Judge Joshua Mersereau's letter requesting support for his aspirations for a seat in the New York Legislature.  Talbot informs him that "he has repeatedly Spoke to Genl P... about your being supported at the Next Election for Senator [with noncommital feedback]...and I conversed with G. S. last Evening he says he shall leave it with the upper Countys to Enominate as the member is to come from that quarter" and leaves it to the Judge to "Draw the conclusions."  Talbot goes on to relate that "the number of Votes in our district in favor of the several Candidates [to the U.S. Congress] are as follows, Talbot 1231, Cooper 961, Winn 928, Finch 408, Crane 85." 

            In 1779 Congress appointed Talbot a Captain in the Continental Navy.  In command of Argo he captured no less than six British vessels and received the thanks of Congress in return.  He was captured while commanding the privateer George Washington and suffered captivity on the notorious Jersey prison ship and subsequently in the equally infamous English prison at Dartmoor.  He moved to New York after the war and was elected representative to Congress 1793-1794.  In 1794 Talbot was assigned to command the frigate President then building in New York.  In 1798 at the commencement of hostilities with France, Talbot was recommissioned a captain and assumed command of Constitution and the West India squadron.  He resigned in 1801, the result of a disagreement with Thomas Truxtun regarding his relative seniority among his peers.

            Joshua Mersereau (1738-1804) educated at Kings College (now Columbia) and practiced law in New York City. Joshua assisted in raising a company for the Quebec expedition in the autumn of 1775 and the two brothers became part of George Washington's spy ring in New York.  He was a member of the New York State Assembly during 1777-86, representing Richmond County. Joshua also served as Deputy Commissary of Prisoners, with headquarters at Rutland, Massachusetts and later, Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He later received a grant of land for his wartime services in the western part of the state. Joshua and brother John removed with their families to Tioga County, New York in 1789 and founded the Hamlet of East Guilford, opening the first sawmill there and purchasing large sections of land bordering on the Unadilla River. Although Joshua apparently never held political office again, he served as one of the earliest judges in the county. Item #84

Price: $1,200.00