Founding Families
Ebenezer West |  Waite Carr West  |  Increase Jones |  Hannah Bowen Jones  |  William Hill | Elizabeth Hill 
Edward Talbot  |  Sarah "Sally" Martin Talbot  |  ​Absalom P Morse  | Lydia Tallman Morse 
Alfred P White | Huldah Symonds White  |  ​Robert Shaw  |  Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw

Lydia Tallman Morse
Wife - Mother - Founder
​1788 - 1871

Informative flyer about Lydia Tallman MorseLydian Tallman Morse Wife, Mother Founder
Early Life
The birth of Lydia Tallman Morse remains something of a mystery. Conflicting records place her birth either in 1788 in Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York, or in 1787 in New Hampshire. Her parents, Abner Daniel Tallman and Phoebe Nutting, were married in Hoosick in 1786, and Lydia was born one to two years later, making Hoosick the more plausible birthplace.
By 1800, Lydia’s parents had moved to Vershire, Vermont, a town that would later become home to several families who eventually settled in Minerva. Lydia would have been about thirteen or fourteen years old at the time.
No records have been found that confirm Lydia made the move to Vershire with her family. Tallman families were living in and around Hoosick during this period, and it is possible that Lydia remained behind with relatives. During that time period in America, it was common for girls to “go out to service,” meaning they left home and moved in with others to assist with the household, assist with child care, continue school, or find other ways to support themselves and their families.
Easton, New York, was an established community and likely offered more opportunity for a young woman of Lydia’s age than the small and newly developing town of Vershire.

​Marriage and Life in Easton

Lydia was living in or around Easton by 1805 when Absalom P. Morse relocated there to teach at a young men’s academy. Lydia and Absalom met during that time, courted, and were married in 1809. She was twenty-two years old and Absalom was twenty-five.
Lydia and Absalom’s first three children William (1810), Maria (1812), and Horace (1813) were born during their time in Easton.

Moving to Minerva

Lydia’s parents had settled on 14th Road in what became known as the West Side of Minerva. At the time, 14th Road was the main drag into the next closest community of North Creek. Anyone traveling there would have to travel down 14th Road and ford the Hudson River to reach the town.
Today, families living on 14th Road are considered to live in a remote spot, far from the center of town. Travelers on that road today are usually people who live there, or hunters and hikers heading into the woods.
Of historical interest is that the land on the other side of the Hudson was, at the time, part of the town of Minerva. Two schools would later be built on the other side, and students had to ford the river in order to get to school. These schools were not in operation until 1848. The Morse’s youngest child John would have been sixteen at that time. None of the Morse children would have attended. The closest school would have been Minerva Elementary located near where the current Town Hall sits.

Life on 14th Road

The couple purchased land on 14th Road close to where the Tallmans had settled and built a log cabin for their growing family in 1814.
The fresh mountain air seemed to have done the trick for Absalom. He and Lydia went on to have eight more children, Harriet Cornelia Morse (1817), Sanford Wardwell Morse (1818), Orson Palmer Morse (1820), Jane Fanny Morse (1822), Olive B. Morse (1824), Mary Nutting Morse (1827), Cornelia Tubbs Morse (1830), and John Ireland Morse (1832).
Absalom became the Town’s first Supervisor in 1817 when the Town received its charter. He was the driving force behind selecting the name of Minerva. He was also land-agent, surveyor, justice of the peace, school commissioner and postmaster, had some medical training and was both clerk and deacon at the Baptist Church.
Lydia, along with caring for eleven children, would have supported and worked with Absalom through all of those walks of life from their home on 14th Road. She and Absalom lived in their log cabin for twenty-two years, raising their family and helping to grow a town and a thriving community.

Later Years

In 1836, they purchased land at the crossroads of what later became A.P. Morse Memorial Highway, Townshed Road, and Longs Hill Road. This property was much closer to the church that was so important in their daily lives. The property is now operated by the LaBar family as Morningside Camps.
Absalom passed in 1868 and Lydia in 1871. They are both buried in the Baptist Cemetery, honored still by a long line of family members and a community that loved them.

Legacy

Lydia’s life closely paralleled the early history of Minerva itself. Both were born in the early years following the American Revolution, both grew families and community during those years. Lydia was not only there for Minerva’s birth but probably part of the conversation centering on its development.
She watched her children grow while watching Minerva grow. She watched her husband build a place where the opportunities for her children went from very few to so many. The dream they had for their lives when they left Easton for Minerva became a reality over her lifetime.
Her place as a founding mother is forever memorialized.
Founding mother of Minerva and wife of Absalom Pride Morse.
Founding mother of Minerva and wife of Absalom Pride Morse.

At a Glance:
​Lydia Tallman Morse

1787–1788
Lydia Tallman is born, likely in Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York, though some records suggest New Hampshire.
1786
Her parents, Abner Daniel Tallman and Phoebe Nutting, marry in Hoosick.
1800
The Tallman family moves to Vershire, Vermont.
1805
Lydia is living in or near Easton, New York, where she meets Absalom P. Morse.
1809
Lydia marries Absalom P. Morse in Easton.
1810–1813
First three children are born: William, Maria, and Horace.
1814
Lydia and Absalom move to the Adirondack settlement that later becomes Minerva and establish a home on 14th Road.
1817
Minerva receives its town charter and Absalom becomes the town’s first Supervisor.
1817–1832
Eight more children are born to the family in Minerva.
1836
The Morse family moves from 14th Road to a new home at the crossroads near the center of town, later known as Morningside.
1868
Absalom P. Morse dies.
1871
Lydia Tallman Morse dies and is buried in the Baptist Cemetery in Minerva.
Gravestone for Lydia Tallman and Absalom Pride Morse.
Gravestone for Lydia Tallman and Absalom Pride Morse.

Sources