Benjamin Tallmadge

Benjamin Tallmadge

Male 1754 - 1835  (81 years)


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  • Name Benjamin Tallmadge  [1
    Nickname Culper Spy Ring 
    Birth 11 Feb 1754  Setauket, Suffolk, New York, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Burial Mar 1835  East Cemetery, Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 7 Mar 1835  Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1454  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 12 Oct 2024 

    Father Benjamin Tallmadge, Sr.,   b. 31 Dec 1725, New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Feb 1786, Rye, Westchester, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years) 
    Mother Susannah Smith,   b. 5 Oct 1729, White Plains, Westchester, New York Colony, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 21 Apr 1768, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York Colony, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 38 years) 
    Marriage 16 May 1750  Rye, Westchester, New York, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F8701  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Mary Floyd,   b. 6 Mar 1764, Mastic, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 3 Jun 1805 (Age 41 years) 
    Marriage 16 Mar 1784  NY Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. Benjamin Tallmadge,   b. 10 Sep 1794, Litchfield Twp,Litchfield,Conneticut Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Jun 1831, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 36 years)
     2. Frederick Augustus Talmadge,   b. 29 Aug 1792, Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 17 Sep 1869, Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
     3. Harriet Wadsworth Tallmadge,   b. 3 Apr 1797, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Jul 1856, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years)
     4. Maria Jones Tallmadge,   b. 25 Mar 1790, Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Mar 1878, Troy, Rensselaer, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 87 years)
     5. George Washington Talmadge,   b. 13 Sep 1803, Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Sep 1835, Warren, Trumbull, Ohio, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 31 years)
    Family ID F757  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 May 2025 

    Family 2 Maria Hallett,   b. 19 Feb 1776, New York, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Sep 1838, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years) 
    Marriage 4 May 1808  Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F33541  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 May 2025 

  • Notes 
    • In December 1778, General George Washington's chief of intelligence—and Culper Ring spymaster Major Benjamin Tallmadge—recruited Jonas Hawkins as a clandestine courier to bring messages to Setauket from New York City, where the group's leader, Abraham Woodhull was gathering information. From there, the coded correspondence could be relatively easily forwarded to Tallmadge.[3] At first, the ring employed just Hawkins in the role, but by early summer, Roe had joined the group as an alternate rider, who would take messages the 55 miles (89 km) between the group's two major centers of operation, Setauket, New York, and New York City.[1] At the time, both cities were occupied by the British.Work as spy
      [edit]
      Roe and Hawkins passed the messages from New York City to operative Caleb Brewster on Long Island.[3] Brewster would take them across the Sound to Tallmadge at Fairfield, Connecticut. From there, Tallmadge forwarded the messages to Washington.[4]
      Roe served the Culper spy ring as a courier by secretly relaying its messages beginning in early 1779. He claimed to be conducting business as a merchant in order to avoid suspicion and pass through the British checkpoints.[3] Roe became the sole dispatch carrier for the ring after July 1779, when Tallmadge gave Roe–but not Hawkins–a code number in his code index.[3] Hawkins increasing paranoia had led him to abandon the mission at that time.[3]In historical records

  • Sources 
    1. [S44] Various, WorldConnect Multiple Databases (RootsWeb.Com. The individual databases at this internet site regularly change, and therefore a reference to a specific database may not be valid at a future date. This general reference to Rootsweb Worldc.