Benjamin's second marriage was to Romancy Miller on October 23 or 25, 1836 or 1837. She was born April 10, 1819, in Millersport, Ohio. She died January 31, 1911, in Rippey, Iowa, and is buried in the Rippey Cemetery (Block 2, Lot 38, Grave 3). According to a paper that can be found in the Iowa Historical Department Library in Des Moines written by someone named Terrill, Romancy was the daughter of John and Anna Smootz Miller.

The children of Benjamin Tallman are as follows:

Sarah Jane John Miller Mathais David Caroline Amy E. Eliza E. Nathaniel Harrison Griffen C. William L. Romancy Jacob Grace

m. David Edwin Silver died young m. Elizabeth Plomey Ault Winn died young ? m. Nathaniel Amon Garnant m. Adam Lieberkneckt m. Narcisses Pollic m. ? Postier m. ? m. Albert Serman died at 24 died young

Around 1848, Benjamin, his brother John, and, perhaps their brother David, moved to Jones county, Iowa. The children through Eliza E. had been born in Ohio, but Nathaniel was born in Jones county in 1849. Sometime in the 1850s, Benjamin moved his family to the next county to the west--Linn county. He was involved with the United Brethren Church which founded a town and college at Western. Benjamin was the farm agent and resident agent of the college for many years. At one time he served on the Board of Regents. One of his jobs was to operate the college farm. The farm provided a work/study program for needy students as well as a means for the college to earn outside income.

When the church founded the town they hoped that the lots and nearby farms could be sold to its members thereby creating a strong religious community. They were also in a good position to be on a major north/south railway line. Such was not to be the case though. The railroad located to both the east and west of the town by a few miles and an influx of immigrants from Bohemia bought up much of the surrounding land. The college fell on hard times and eventually closed. Benjamin owned no land in Linn county until 1864, but he clearly lived there much earlier, so he probably resided on the college farm itself. He bought 80 acres adjacent to the college farm just to the north (E 1/2, SE 1/4, Sec. 28-82-7). A barn he built was still standing in 1987.

Benjamin died in 1881 and his wife, Romancy, moved to Rippey in Greene county, Iowa, to live with her daughter, Amy. Another daughter, Eliza, also lived around Rippey, and Romancy later lived with her. There is also some indication that her son, Miller, also lived in the area for a while. There seems to have been quite an exodus of Tallmans to Greene county. Several sons of Benjamin's brother, John, also moved there. Many of Benjamin's younger children moved to Minnesota.

Benjamin died October 26, 1881, in Linn county, Iowa. His tombstone, which is in the Western Cemetery in Linn county, gave his age at death as "69 Ys 5 Ms 1 Day." Date math yields the birth date. Virgil Berdette Tallman in his Tallman Genealogical Record, page 137, says his birth date is May 28, 1911. The difference is probably the result of transcription errors.

Article and drawing by Robert A. J. Thorpe of Cedar Rapids reprinted from The Greater Tallman Family Newsletter, December, 1987.

For more information on the Tallman family see The Tallman Page at Richard's Genealogy & Tallmans of Jones County

From The History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Co., Chicago, 1879, p. 653.

One of the native farmers of Rome township, who has advanced steadily with the progress of the times, is W. E. Tallman. He was born April 20, 1863, and is the son of John and Lucinda (Low) Tallman, the former a native of Ohio, the latter of Maryland. In 1845, shortly after their marriage the parents came to Iowa, locating in Rome township, Jones county, where they had entered government land. It was in the early days of the state's existence and the majority of houses were rudely built of logs. Mr. Tallman’s differed but slightly from the other cabins about him, save that he with great labor put a roof of clapboards above the logs and the flooring was of boards. After the addition of a door, only too uncommon, the building that was to shelter his family from the inclemency of the weather, was complete, and it remained their home for ten or twelve years. When, on the 30th of July, 1893, the father was called away, these old conditions were but memories, of which he told and retold as if they were fairy tales to the grandchildren who gathered about him. His widow died September 6, 1909, in her eighty-eighth year. To John Tallman and wife were born ten children: James H., deceased; Nathaniel C., of Greene county, Iowa; Reuben S., also of Greene county, Iowa; Elizabeth, who makes her home in Chicago, Illinois; Winfield H., also of Greene county, Iowa; Mary J., deceased; Rose A., the wife of Arthur G. Neff, of Mount Vernon, Iowa; Samantha E., the wife of Peter Kane, of Vinton, Iowa; Angeline, who married R. T. Boots, of Rome township; and W. E. the subject of this sketch.

W. E. Tallman had all the advantages of education that those who followed the pioneers were able to enjoy. He attended the district schools and Cornell College, at Mount Vernon, in which he completed his formal training for life. Until he became of age he remained at home, assisting in the work of the farm, but with the advent of manhood he started out to make his own way in the world. For two years he worked as a renter and then bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 7, Rome township, which is his home today. With the lapse of years he has been able to add forty acres to this farm and to buy other land which has brought his holdings to three hundred and ninety-five acres, all situated in Jones county. In addition to his agricultural pursuits Mr. Tallman has engaged in the stock business, breeding and raising black polled cattle. He has been successful in his operations and has won the confidence of the people in whose midst he lives.

Mr. Tallman was married April 20, 1886, to Miss Delilah Merritt, who was born in Rome township in 1863 and is a daughter of John and Caroline (Dunlap) Merritt. The former was born in New York state, February 23, 1806, while the latter was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1827. In 1836 John Merritt came to Iowa and entered land in Jones county. The next year, after he had satisfied himself as to the advisability of moving to this new country, he sent for his family to join him. Here the parents made their home until their deaths, which occurred, in the case of the father, December 1, 1886, and the mother February 16, 1909. To Mr. and Mrs. Merritt were born seven children, six of whom are still living. Of Mr. and Mrs. Tallman's union there have been eight children: W. E., Jr., Laura J., Marion, Lucinda F., Odessa C., Mary Bell, John and Lily J. W. E., Jr., is a farmer of Rome township, but the other children are all at home. Mr. Tallman is a republican in his political beliefs and has filled the offices of trustee and assessor at the behest of the voters of his township. His success has given the people confidence in his ability, and they have found they made no mistake in bestowing upon him those marks of their esteem.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 564.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 613.