J. WALTON TALBOT

From the 1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 695-697:

J. Walton Talbot

(Nevada).

   One of the remarkable and distinguished characteristics of our Western civilization is the number and prominence of comparatively young men in professional, official and business life.  Men who, in older sections and under other conditions, would be but entering upon the threshold of active life, are here found in the full meridian of success and usefulness.  The pluck so necessary to success in any pursuit seems to peculiarly a distinctive mark of the young men of this Western country, and hence we find them well to the front in every avocation of life.  Among those who have thus won in life’s battle, and are deservedly ranked among the progressive and leading citizens of their communities, is the subject of this sketch.  J. Walton Talbot was born in Georgetown, Pettis county, Mo., December 9, 1861, and while yet an infant was taken by his parents to Booneville, Mo., and subsequently, when not yet four years of age, accompanied them to Dover, Lafayette county, Mo.  He was the sixth child and youngest son of Levi and Mary Talbot.  Levi Talbot was born at Harper’s Ferry, Va., and came to Missouri in the spring of 1839, locating at Boonville, in the merchant tailoring business, where for many years he carried on a large and lucrative trade.  On the 19^th of February, of that year, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dunn, second daughter of Michael and Sarah Dunn, reputable and well-to-do citizens of Boonville.  Seven children blessed their union--five daughters and two sons.  In 1865 Mr. Talbot moved his family to Lafayette county, Mo., opening up a profitable trade in the merchant tailoring line at Dover, and continuing a prosperous career until March, 1872, when death removed him from his labors.  The father’s death left the widowed mother with a large family upon her hands, and it became necessary, now that the strong arm of the father was no longer interposed to protect and provide, that other provisions should be made.  J. Walton, though but a mere child, at once set bravely to work, buffeting the storms of real life.  Whatever his hands found to do, that thing he did with might and main.  As a mill boy, his first earning went to help support his bereaved mother and sisters.  Eighteen long months he labored faithfully in the uncongenial and exacting duties required of him, all this time working at the mill during the nights and studying his chosen pursuit – watchmaking – in the afternoons of each day.  A boy of less determined purpose or actuated by less noble principles would have given up the effort to do and be more than the fates seemed to bequeath him.  But young Walton was made of sterner stuff.  He possessed to an eminent degree that peculiarly Western product – plunk – and persevered, working by night and studying by day, until the opportunity offered for him to secure an apprenticeship in his favorite pursuit.  In 1878 he accepted a position in the jewelry establishment of his brother, W. H. Talbot, a practical watchmaker of repute, who, for some years, had been established in business in the growing young city of Nevada, Mo.  Here young Talbot supplied himself so diligently that his eyesight failed him, and in the winter of 1880 he was compelled to retire from active business life.  More than a year of enforced idleness thus passed.  However, skilled medical attention was secured, and in June, 1882, he had so far recovered that he felt able to resume business.  This he did in a small way, upon his own responsibility, having purchased the tools, machinery and stock in trade of his brother.  These, together with his indomitable pluck and tireless energy, constituted his only stock in trade.  But the traits of character that aided him so materially in his earlier struggles served him well in the effort to establish for himself an independent and successful business.  Year by year his trade was increased until now, even with all the improved machinery that money can provide, his orders for fine work, especially in the watchmaking line, are constantly in excess of the capabilities of his establishment to supply.  Strictly attentive to business, even to its most trivial details; urbane and pleasant in all his relations with the public; scrupulously exact in the fulfillment of all his representations and promises to customers, and always a liberal and judicious advertiser, he has built up, within a comparatively short time, a business which, in magnitude and valuable returns, cannot be duplicated in any Southwestern town.   Besides the handsome and costly stock of jewelry and silverware, his expensive and splendid watchmaking machinery and other valuable appurtenances to his large business, representing in the aggregate quite a handsome sum, Mr. Talbot has also valuable real estate in Nevada.  His home is one of the most elegant and attractive among the many splendid new residences lately built in this growing town.  Presided over by a devoted and accomplished wife, and brightened by the presence of two sweet cherubs, Mr. Talbot’s beautiful home is an earthly paradise.  The charming mistress of his home and heart was Miss Nannie J., second daughter of A. Cummings, ex-county clerk of Vernon county, to whom he was married on the 9^th day of January, 1883.  Two children, Clarence Weill, a son, and Marie Louise, a daughter, are the fruits of this union.  Thus, blessed in his domestic and business relations, largely the result of his own unaided but persistent effort, and still upon the upward incline of life, Mr. Talbot has yet many years of usefulness before him.

[Transcribed by Julia Brown ]

 A - B    C - D     E - G     H - L     M - N     O - R     S - T     U - Z

Please contact the County Coordinator if you have family information or photos that can be displayed on this page.