Talk focuses on 18th century politician

MILLBROOK — Robert McHugh, history teacher at Arlington High School, presented an enlightening discussion on James Tallmadge and the Missouri Question, Thursday, March 17, when many were out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The room at Lyall Federated Church, however, was filled with nearly 100 attendees, many of them McHugh’s own 11th-grade students.

James Tallmadge’s family arrived in America in 1631. James Tallmadge Sr., a farmer and a blacksmith, settled in Stanford in 1772. He also served in political roles and fought in the Revolutionary War. Three months after he fought at Saratoga, in 1778, his son, James Jr., was born. 

James Jr. grew up, attended Rhode Island University and became a lawyer and a banker. Through marriage, he was related to George Clinton. He had six children; only a single daughter lived to maturity. Tallmadge became an officer in the New York Militia and served in the War of 1812, but he never fought in battle because the war never got to the banks of the Hudson River.

When Congressman Henry Lee, of Putnam, died unexpectedly in 1817, Tallmadge won an election to fill the vacancy. He took over that role on Dec. 1, 1817, holding it for a period of 21 months.

Last week’s lecture covered that portion of Tallmadge’s career, which involved an application from the territory of Missouri to become a state.  Although Tallmadge had freed his own slaves just a year earlier, he was against slavery. Yet he advocated for the passage of gradual emancipation in Missouri, rather than full emancipation as many northern states had. Gradual emancipation in Missouri allowed it to be a slave state. When it became a state, the balance of power between the north and the south remained equal. This averted a war between the states for many more years.

The debate Tallmadge engaged in is thought to be one of the most candid talks about slavery in Congress at that time. 

Tallmadge didn’t run for re-election. He later spent half of each year in Manhattan and became a founding father of New York University in 1830. He believed in practical education. He died in 1853.

The audience at the presentation was attentive to McHugh’s every word. Many, including the students, asked pertinent questions. 

Millbrook Historical Society programs are always free, and refreshments are served. For information about future programs, go to www.villageofmillbrook.org.