George Talbot (1714-1772)
George Talbot was born on October 23, 1714 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. On September 30, 1763, he married Abigail Dean Bacon, the widow of Capt. William Bacon, in South Dedham.
He had been widowed twice before and had four children from a previous marriage. Abigail Dean Bacon had 11 children with William Bacon: Abigail, William Jr., John, Sarah, Daniel, Hannah, Anna, Mercy, Lydia, Abner, and Judith. William Bacon died on May 21, 1761.
Abigail and George Talbot continued to live and farm the land that Capt. William Bacon had worked in South Dedham. Together they had one child, George Talbot, born on February 25, 1765. George Talbot, died on May 24, 1772, leaving Abigail a widow once again.
The gravestone of George Talbot was cut by Henry Christian Geyer (c. 1727-1785). Geyer was quite a well-known stone cutter in and around Boston. James Blachowicz in his book From Slate to Marble: Gravestone Carving Traditions in Eastern Massachusetts, 1750-1850 recounts Geyer’s life and work.
Born in Germany, Geyer arrived in Boston in the 1750s. He first advertised in Boston stonecutter shop in the Boston Post-Boy in March of 1759 and continued to advertise through 1770. Seen here, Blachowicz had reproduced two of these ads in his book. Although Geyer had a wide-ranging business in stone, he gained a widespread reputation as a gravestone carver in particular. Blachowicz has identified just over 200 gravestones cut by Henry Christian Geyer primarily in Massachusetts but extending as far as Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The gravestone of George Talbot is the only stone carved by Geyer in Old Parish Cemetery. Henry Christian Geyer died in December, 1785.
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