jul 27, 1864 - Samuel Hallett was shot dead

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On July 27, 1864, Samuel Hallett was shot dead at 5th and Minnesota. (L. Taylor, V. VIII. p. 255). Orlando Talcott, the Chief Construction Engineer for the UPRW-ED, who resided in Quindaro, was telling people that Hallett’s Company was in debt to many of its workers and that track work was shoddy. Talcott had even written President Lincoln informing him that Samuel Hallett’s Railroad Construction Company was not building the railroad according to standards set forth in the 1864 Railway Act. Lincoln met with Samuel Hallett who showed evidence of the strong financial backing he’d received from John D. Perry and that the rail line to Lawrence was finished. Lincoln sarcastically is reported to have said that “perhaps the disgruntled [Talcott] should be spanked.”
When Samuel Hallett learned that Talcott had written Lincoln, he telegraphed his brother Thomas to “take appropriate action” the next time he came into his office (Petrowski, p. 103). Later that summer at his yard office on 5th and Minnesota, “Big” Thomas Hallett (estimated to have weighed 200 pounds) is said to have either slapped, or literally spanked Talcott (estimated weight 125 pounds) and threw him out into the street. To avenge his embarrassment Talcott waited until July 27th to ride from Quindaro to 5th and Minnesota in Wyandotte on his pony and wait for Samuel Hallett at the Holcomb Drug Store next to the Garno House Hotel where he was staying. Talcott carried a Henry Rifle which had a new repeating mechanism that drew admirers. There were many witnesses to the premeditated murder in broad daylight after Hallett had finished dinner and standing outside the Garno. Talcott fired several shots into Hallett’s back. Hallett is reported to have said, “My God you have killed me.” People rushed to help Samuel Hallett and took him up to his hotel room where he expired. This allowed Talcott time to escape. A search party continued in all directions for several days but Talcott had gone back to his house in Quindaro to gather things and escaped to Colorado. Talcott’s home in Quindaro was burned to the ground soon after his escape but this was the only revenge as Talcott was not captured for another 15 years, and by that then, there was little interest in prosecution.
The July 30, 1864 Wyandotte Commercial Gazette stated that Samuel Hallett’s Wyandott murder was a public calamity (Petrowski p. 103). A conspiracy was generated that John Fremont was behind the murder since he still had not been reimbursed for his $250,000 investment. Others thought that John D. Perry stood the most to benefit from the murder. These conspiracy theories were dropped but the murder created a series of controlling ownership issues that stalled railway construction once again.

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