Jesse Hale Talbott, son of William Hillery Talbott and Nancy Catherine Conner, was born September 12, 1827 in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois. He married Lucinda Jane Wilcox, daughter of Nathaniel Brown Wilcox and Hannah Augusta Gardner, on January 13, 1853 in Warren County, Illinois. Mr. Talbott, his wife, and 9-month-old daughter, Alfreda, arrived in Nevada in June 1856. He was a dry goods merchant and, upon arrival built a store for his wares, stocked it, and took an ox team to Muscatine to procure more merchandise leaving the business in the care of his partner, Mr. Hackley. Upon his return he found Mr. Hackley had made a dance hall on the second floor of the building and distributed Talbott’s goods, some for cash and some for credit but kept no books whatsoever. Regardless of this inauspicious start, the business prospered.
In early times, Jesse H. Talbott ran a sawmill here for a time. He later went into the merchandising business with Major Hawthorne, being known as Talbott & Hawthorne. He also established the Nevada Flouring Mills and Elevator in 1865 with E. G. Day and later, in 1871, with E. W. Lockwood until Mr. Lockwood assumed full ownership.
Mr. Talbott was not only enterprising but also did much in the way of public service. In 1862, Mr. Talbott with E. G. Day and W. S. Garrett organized a Soldiers’ Aid Society which did much good , as well as serving on the Nevada funeral committee for martyred President Lincoln in 1865. He served on the first Nevada city council as well as four more terms and served as mayor of Nevada for two terms from 1871 to 1872.
The family removed to Miller, Hand County, South Dakota after 1880 where Mr. Talbott was a carpenter. He died there on August 17, 1897 with his wife, four daughters and a son surviving him.