Arthur Newell Talbot's Family

by James W. Phillips, Ph.D., PE.
Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The technical accomplishments of Arthur Newell Talbot in railroad engineering, structural engineering, sanitary and hydraulic engineering, concrete technology, and engineering education are well documented elsewhere in this publication and, indeed, within Talbot's many papers.

However, little information has been collected previously on Arthur's personal life or the lives of his family -- starting with his wife Virginia, their four children (Kenneth Hammet, Mildred Virginia, Rachel Harriet, and Dorothy Newell), and their children's children. By now (1994), Arthur's children are no longer living, but seven of the ten grandchildren are living. Eight of the grandchildren married; these all have grandchildren of their own.

The account given here is provided mainly from personal recollections by Arthur's grandchildren during the years 1992-94. The author is grateful for the cooperation, assistance, photographs and other materials made available by the grandchildren for this historical account. The account begins with biographical sketches of Arthur Newell Talbot (1857-1942) and his wife Virginia Mann Hammet (186(}1919), followed by biographical sketches of their four children and the grandchildren, staffing with the oldest child.