Talbot was working as a Machinist in the Atlantic Coastline Railway shops, at Florence, South Carolina under deplorable conditions and for very small wages when he conceived the idea of organizing the Machinists for the purpose of improving their conditions through cooperation and collective action.

Shortly after forming this organization Talbot was discharged by his employer for his Union activities.

After leaving the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, Talbot moved around for a while until he landed a job at the Southern Railway in Atlanta Georgia.

Talbot was murdered in March 1892 by in Brothers Will and Charles Barrenger in the streets of Florence, South Carolina.

"There is dignity in labor that carries with it respect, both the labor of the hands and of the head - providing for our bodily wants as well as toiling to develop some enterprise of world-wide reputation" - Tom Talbot February 1889, Journal of United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers.