Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Oil Painting - Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835)

Object Number

1936-01-1

Description

Oil on canvas portrait of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, (1754-1835) by Ezra Ames, (1768-1836), 1/4 length image of old man, full front face, bold forehead, thin grey hair, stern blue eyes and large curved nose. Wearing a black coat, black vest, standing pleated ruffle white shirt, high white collar and tie.

Comment

Benjamin Tallmadge, (1754-1835) was born in Brookhaven, L.I., graduated from Yale in 1773. He served in the Revolution under General G. Washington as a Secret Service agent. Tallmadge is noted for discovering the conspiracy between Major Andre and Benedict Arnold. Tallmadge was in charge of Andre's imprisonment before his execution, and they became close friends. During the Revolution, Tallmadge visited Litchfield, the munitions depot, and decided to settle here after the War. In 1782, he purchased the Thomas Sheldon house on North Street. In 1784, he married, Mary Floyd, (1763-1805), they had seven children. He was a merchant in Litchfield, owner of B. Tallmadge & Co. and its branches in New York and Winsted, CT. He was a partner with Oliver Wolcott and Julius Deming in the Litchfield China Trading Co., a venture which imported goods from the Orient, the group owned a ship, the Trident, which sailed in and out of New York. He served in the CT House of Representatives from 1801-1817, and as the President of the Phoenix Bank Branch in Litchfield, as a the town's first Postmaster.