Founding Families | Ebenezer West | Waite West | Increase Jones | Hannah Jones | William Hill | Elizabeth Hill
Edward Talbot | Sarah "Sally" Talbot | Absalom P Morse | Lydia Morse | Alfred P White | Huldah White
Robert Shaw | Jane Talbot Shaw
Edward Talbot | Sarah "Sally" Talbot | Absalom P Morse | Lydia Morse | Alfred P White | Huldah White
Robert Shaw | Jane Talbot Shaw
Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw
1787 – June 1, 1868
Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw arrived in Minerva as a young widow around 1810, accompanying her older brother, Edward Talbot.
Born in 1787 in Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, Jane’s life was both long and marked by early sorrow. At just seventeen years of age, she married a Mr. Stiles in Templemore, Tipperary. Records indicate that the marriage produced one child, a daughter. Less than two years later, tragedy struck when her husband died after being thrown from a horse.
Opportunities for single women were limited in the early nineteenth century. For widows with children, they were even scarcer. We do not know what financial position her husband left her in, but we do know that she chose to emigrate with her family to America in 1807.
The Talbot family arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, around 1808 and established a clothier enterprise, a trade in which they were well skilled. Jane and her brother Edward, both raised within that industry in Ireland, remained in Cambridge for approximately two years assisting in the business.
In 1810, Edward moved his family to Minerva, where he built a home that served not only as a residence but also as an inn, tavern, post office, and weaving household with at least one loom. Jane accompanied him to the Adirondack settlement. She was twenty-three years old.
There is no further mention of Jane’s daughter in surviving records. Whether the child was left with relatives in Ireland, died young, or was lost during the difficult years surrounding emigration remains unknown. Whatever the circumstance, Jane entered Minerva without the one presence that might have provided comfort during an already difficult chapter of her life.
In Minerva’s earliest years, Jane would likely have been essential to the Talbot household. Work in the inn and tavern, assistance in weaving, and the daily labor required in a frontier settlement would have made her a steady and valuable contributor to her brother’s enterprise.
Jane remained in her brother’s household until 1818 when she married Robert Shaw. Robert emigrated to Minerva in 1816. It was a destination he had decided upon during his passage from Scotland to the United States. He had no plans for his future in America; he had been recently widowed himself and was looking for a new start.
It would make perfect sense that upon arriving in Minerva, he would have stayed at the Talbot Inn. Jane and Robert would have met there. They would have shared life stories, found common ground in their widowed status, their decision to cross an ocean for a new start, and perhaps an understanding that life was moving forward whether they were ready or not.
Jane was twenty-nine when they met. At a young age she had already endured loss, migration, and increased responsibility. Her options were limited; marriage would have been the sensible choice. It is somewhat surprising that she had not yet remarried, choosing instead to remain in Edward’s household. By all accounts, she was an independent woman by this stage in her life, willing to make choices on her own terms.
Jane and Robert married in 1818 and began their life together in Minerva. They settled in the home Robert built for her just outside the hamlet of Olmstedville, along what is now County Route 29 heading toward Pottersville.
Jane and Robert welcomed five children during their years together. Phoebe arrived in 1820, two years after their marriage. Thomas followed in 1822, Margaret in 1827, Sarah in 1829, and William in 1836. Jane was 49 and Robert 60 when William was born.
Sadly, Jane became a widow for a second time when Robert passed away on November 27, 1845, at the age of 69. Jane was 58 when he died, and their youngest child was only nine years old.
In a letter written at the age of ninety-seven, Elizabeth (Bessie) Talbot Sullivan, great-granddaughter of Robert and Jane, recalled stories handed down through the family. She described how Robert constructed a separate building on the property where he installed a loom and operated a weaving business. The family also raised their own sheep, using the wool in the making of cloth. Bessie recalled that her grandmother still possessed a blanket woven by Jane or Robert, and that her father, Edward Talbot, owned a woolen suit made from cloth woven in their household.
At some point later in life, Jane moved in with her son Thomas. According to Bessie, she was not an easy person to live with. Jane maintained very formal English manners, refused to dine at the same table as hired help, and even took snuff.
Jane died in 1868 at the age of 81. Thomas would have been 46 at the time, and he and his wife, Cornelia Drucilla Bishop, had at least three children still living at home during the years Jane resided with them.
Jane’s life ended in Minerva much as it had begun, as a widow. She and Robert are buried in the Federal Flats Cemetery in Olmstedville, their headstones remaining as a testament to their lives.
1787 – June 1, 1868
Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw arrived in Minerva as a young widow around 1810, accompanying her older brother, Edward Talbot.
Born in 1787 in Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, Jane’s life was both long and marked by early sorrow. At just seventeen years of age, she married a Mr. Stiles in Templemore, Tipperary. Records indicate that the marriage produced one child, a daughter. Less than two years later, tragedy struck when her husband died after being thrown from a horse.
Opportunities for single women were limited in the early nineteenth century. For widows with children, they were even scarcer. We do not know what financial position her husband left her in, but we do know that she chose to emigrate with her family to America in 1807.
The Talbot family arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, around 1808 and established a clothier enterprise, a trade in which they were well skilled. Jane and her brother Edward, both raised within that industry in Ireland, remained in Cambridge for approximately two years assisting in the business.
In 1810, Edward moved his family to Minerva, where he built a home that served not only as a residence but also as an inn, tavern, post office, and weaving household with at least one loom. Jane accompanied him to the Adirondack settlement. She was twenty-three years old.
There is no further mention of Jane’s daughter in surviving records. Whether the child was left with relatives in Ireland, died young, or was lost during the difficult years surrounding emigration remains unknown. Whatever the circumstance, Jane entered Minerva without the one presence that might have provided comfort during an already difficult chapter of her life.
In Minerva’s earliest years, Jane would likely have been essential to the Talbot household. Work in the inn and tavern, assistance in weaving, and the daily labor required in a frontier settlement would have made her a steady and valuable contributor to her brother’s enterprise.
Jane remained in her brother’s household until 1818 when she married Robert Shaw. Robert emigrated to Minerva in 1816. It was a destination he had decided upon during his passage from Scotland to the United States. He had no plans for his future in America; he had been recently widowed himself and was looking for a new start.
It would make perfect sense that upon arriving in Minerva, he would have stayed at the Talbot Inn. Jane and Robert would have met there. They would have shared life stories, found common ground in their widowed status, their decision to cross an ocean for a new start, and perhaps an understanding that life was moving forward whether they were ready or not.
Jane was twenty-nine when they met. At a young age she had already endured loss, migration, and increased responsibility. Her options were limited; marriage would have been the sensible choice. It is somewhat surprising that she had not yet remarried, choosing instead to remain in Edward’s household. By all accounts, she was an independent woman by this stage in her life, willing to make choices on her own terms.
Jane and Robert married in 1818 and began their life together in Minerva. They settled in the home Robert built for her just outside the hamlet of Olmstedville, along what is now County Route 29 heading toward Pottersville.
Jane and Robert welcomed five children during their years together. Phoebe arrived in 1820, two years after their marriage. Thomas followed in 1822, Margaret in 1827, Sarah in 1829, and William in 1836. Jane was 49 and Robert 60 when William was born.
Sadly, Jane became a widow for a second time when Robert passed away on November 27, 1845, at the age of 69. Jane was 58 when he died, and their youngest child was only nine years old.
In a letter written at the age of ninety-seven, Elizabeth (Bessie) Talbot Sullivan, great-granddaughter of Robert and Jane, recalled stories handed down through the family. She described how Robert constructed a separate building on the property where he installed a loom and operated a weaving business. The family also raised their own sheep, using the wool in the making of cloth. Bessie recalled that her grandmother still possessed a blanket woven by Jane or Robert, and that her father, Edward Talbot, owned a woolen suit made from cloth woven in their household.
At some point later in life, Jane moved in with her son Thomas. According to Bessie, she was not an easy person to live with. Jane maintained very formal English manners, refused to dine at the same table as hired help, and even took snuff.
Jane died in 1868 at the age of 81. Thomas would have been 46 at the time, and he and his wife, Cornelia Drucilla Bishop, had at least three children still living at home during the years Jane resided with them.
Jane’s life ended in Minerva much as it had begun, as a widow. She and Robert are buried in the Federal Flats Cemetery in Olmstedville, their headstones remaining as a testament to their lives.
