Robert D. Talbot

ROBERT D. TALBOT, a veteran of the Civil War, who has an excellent record for service in the army, is a prominent citizen of Parsons, Kansas, and is chairman of the board of county commissioners of Labette county.

Mr. Talbot was born August 3, 1836, in Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, New York, and learned the trade of a wagon-maker at an early age, which he followed for several years. In 1856, he went on the Great Lakes as steward on the Northern Transportation Company's line of boats, and continued thus until 1859, when he went to Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin. He spent the winter of 1860-61 in lumbering in Michigan north of Green Bay, and in the spring returned to New York State. In the summer of 1861, he visited in Whiteside county, Illinois, and on August 7, 1862, entered the Union army. He enlisted in Company C. 75th Reg., Ill. Vol. Inf., and first served under Gen. Don Carlos Buell. The regiment was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, with which he participated in 41 battles and skirmishes. He was mustered out June 12, 1865, and returned to his former home in Illinois. He spent one summer as steward on the lakes, and then worked for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, as a carpenter. In 1867, he went to Bates county, Missouri, and in the spring of 1868 took a homestead claim in Woodson county, Kansas. He resided there until 1872, when he located in Parsons, Labette county, Kansas, of which he has since been a resident. He entered the wood working department of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, and continued with it until 1883. He was elected justice of the peace in 1883, and served as such until 1889. He also served six years in the city council, and was a member of the board of education, of which he was president. In the spring of 1889, he was appointed city clerk, - serving two years, and in 1891 he was appointed city assessor. The following spring, he was elected police judge for a term of two years, and was reelected to that office, his term expiring in 1897. In 1899, he was elected county commissioner, and was made chairman of the board; his term expires in 1902. He has been a notary public for sixteen years.

Mr. Talbot is a charter member of Antietam Post, No. 64, G. A. R. He is past commander, - was adjutant ten years, and is now quartermaster. He has always been an active worker in the interests of old soldiers, and has done more for them than any other one man in Labette county. He was one of the originators of the G. A. R. cemetery, of Parsons, and has gratuitously secured headstones for soldiers' graves, from the Government. He has been a pension attorney since 1891. He is also a charter member of Lodge No. 1, A. 0. U. W., of Parsons, the first lodge established in the state of Kansas. He served eight years as an officer of the lodge, and was a delegate to the grand lodge, five years. He is also a member of the Select Knights and Ladies, being the recording treasurer in the lodge. He is a member of Mohawk Tribe, No. 6, I. 0. R. M., in which he is chief of records. In politics, he is an ardent Republican. Mr. Talbot was united in Hymen's bonds in 1871, with Louisa J. Preston, and they have two children: John P. and Robert F.