Personal Letters of William Talbot

I was recently on the Church's new Family Search genealogy website.  The website has many new features including pictures and stories.  These new additions have made sharing information with other family members easier.  I was excited to find on William Talbot's personal page, some personal letters that had been written to him by his parents and other relatives.  William's parents had also joined the Church before William left England.  You can tell by reading their letters that they had considerable faith.  The letters give you a glimpse of how difficult it must have been to leave your family and homeland behind and travel thousands of miles away from them.  They didn't hear from each other for months and years.  They never saw each other again, although one letter expressed hope that William would soon return home to England to serve a mission.  The letters give news of the family in England including the deaths of his parents and how they died.  They also express sorrow about the death of William and Charlotte's 8 month old son who died a couple of days after they arrived in St. Louis.  I think it is wonderful that someone saved the letters for so many years and that they shared them with the rest of William and Charlotte's descendants on this website.

Letters on Family Search:

Letter dated 19 December 1854  to William Talbot from his father, Thomas Talbot while William and family were in Liverpool before they sailed to America.

Letter dated 15 January 1855 to William from his father written just 2 days before William and family started their voyage to America.

Letter dated 21 May 1855 to William written by Harriet Talbot in behalf of William's father while William and family were in St. Louis and after baby Mark had died.

Letter dated 31 March 1856 to William from his mother announcing the death of William's father.  William and family were living in Salt Lake at the time.

Letter dated 28 October 1856 to William from his mother. William and family were living in Parowan.

Letter dated 1 April 1863 to William from his brother, John.  Written by John's wife, Harriat announcing the death of William's mother.

Another item added to William's page was that his birth name was William Robert Talbot.

If you are interested in viewing these letters, click on this Link to Family Search.