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James Talcott (1835–1916) was an American
factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...
, based in
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.''James Talcott and Factoring'', Ralph M. Hower, ''Bulletin of the Business Historical Society'', Vol. 11, No. 2 (April 1937), pp. 21–23 He established James Talcott, Inc., one of the oldest and largest 19th-century factoring houses in the United States.


Career

Talcott began his business career in 1854 in New York as a selling agent for a knitting mill in
New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol ...
. The mill was managed by his brother, John Butler Talcott. In 1859, he became a
dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...
merchant, surviving the
Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
, just as he had done in
1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...
. Towards the end of the 19th century, Talcott became a
textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
factor, later branching into coal. Talcott's son was
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
graduate James Frederick (1866–1944), who joined his father's business full time in 1879. Two years after his son's birth, Talcott moved his dry goods business into what is now known as the James Talcott Company Building, at 108–110 Franklin Street in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.The James Talcott Co. Bldg -- Nos. 108-110 Franklin Street
– Dayton in Manhattan
The business remained there for about fifty years, before moving to
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...
in 1911. In 1890, J. Frederick married Frank Vanderbilt Crawford, who was the niece and namesake of
Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt Frances Armstrong Crawford-Vanderbilt (January 18, 1839 – May 4, 1885) was an American socialite and philanthropist. During the American Civil War, she was a strong supporter of the Confederate States of America. After the war, she lived in New ...
, the second wife of New York railroad businessman
Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
. In the late 1930s, J. Frederick's son and James Talcott's grandson, James Talcott Jr. (1893–1983), was an officer of the company. This expansion was necessary, for the company's volume had grown from $11.2 million in 1926 to $82 million a decade later. Nearly a quarter of this volume consisted of refactoring (that is, receivables purchased from other factoring establishments). Talcott Jr. succeeded his father as president of the company upon his death in 1944, having joined in 1916. He became its chairman in the 1950s.James Talcott
– ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', January 9, 1983


Personal life

Talcott was born on a thousand-acre farm in
West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...
, on February 7, 1835.James Talcott (1835–1916)
The New York Community Trust The New York Community Trust (The Trust) is a community foundation that serves New York City's five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County. The Trust administers more than 2,200 charitable funds. Established in 1924, The Trust is one of the ...
He attended
Williston Seminary Williston Northampton School (simply referred to as Williston) is a private, co-educational, day and boarding college-preparatory school in Easthampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1841. History Williston Seminary wa ...
, where he studied
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. He married Henrietta E. Francis, and they had four children. He died at
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, New York on August 21, 1916, at the age of 86, and was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. In 1921, a year after a donation of around $250,000 from Henrietta, the
Church of Sweden in New York Church of Sweden in New York (; also known as the Swedish Seamen's Church) is a Church of Sweden church at 5 East 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is a parish of the Church of Sweden Abroad. Dating to 1921, it was placed o ...
, on East 48th Street, was rebuilt in a
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
style. The new building was the work of architect Wilfred E. Anthony (1878–1948).
– Untapped New York
The House at 5 East 48th Street
– Church of Sweden in New York official website
Henrietta died in December 1921, aged 79; it is not known whether she got to see the finished building. Talcott's nephew was Allen Butler Talcott.


Philanthropy

Throughout his life, Talcott gave at least ten percent of his income to charity. In addition to his mission work, he funded an
arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
at
Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...
, a library in West Hartford, a women's dormitory at
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
and a hospital in China. Along with
Dwight L. Moody Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 – December 22, 1899), also known as D. L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher connected with Keswickianism, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Mas ...
, Talcott was also a founder and trustee of
Northfield Seminary Northfield Mount Hermon School (abbreviated as NMH), is a co-educational College-preparatory school, college-preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts. It educates boarding and day students in grades 9–12, as well as post-graduate students. It ...
in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, and he and his wife funded a
professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...
at
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
. His wife was also a founder of the
YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...
, while James was on the international committee of the
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talcott, James 1835 births People from West Hartford, Connecticut 1916 deaths Businesspeople from Connecticut Williston Northampton School alumni Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)