Was self educated. He lived with his parents at Six Mile Lake when he was 15. In August,1822 he, along with his brother William and David Babcock, went to the Kryder lot in Susquehanna county to cut fallow and improve it. The next spring the whole family moved there. In the fall of 1823 a road was cut from the Tallman place to Mt. Pleasant by his father and a number of settlers located upon it.
In 1825 he did chores to earn enough money for paying 6 weeks of board to attend school.
In 1826 he earned enough to attend another 12 weeks of school, which was the extent of his schooling after the age of 12.
In October that same year, he set off on foot with enough provisions to last to Philadelphia and part way home, buying only 3 nights lodging at 6 cents a night. He went to find the man who owned some farm land which he wanted to buy in the Mt. Pleasant area of Preston Twp, Wayne Co, Pa even though he was under age. The man asked $4.00/acre, but he bargained for a contract on 175 acres at $2.00/acre with the understanding that he clear 3 acres a year, put a family on the land, build a house and barn, and finish paying in 3 yrs. He did so well that the man forgave the interest and gave him a parchment deed on April 29,1829 with the original contract dated in 1826. (This is the beginning of Tallmanville, Pa.) He also bought three timber lots, enough to last for three years of lumbering.
In 1829/30 he contributed nails, glass, and sash (he noted as costing $4.84) to help build the first school in the area on the east side of his lot (it was 16' by 20', made of logs). The school ran 6 months a year and was considered a satisfactory success. Women teachers never recieved more than 75 cents a week and men not more than $10 per month. This same year he built a mill on the creek a few rods below the road, and a post office was established, for which he was postmaster during the next 30 years until his son Edwin took over in 1860 (both were the first in Preston Twp).
1830 census listing for Palmer Tallman near his father in Preston Twp shows:
male 1<5, 2=20-30, 1=40-50 fem 1<5, 1=20-30
indicating possibly an older brother, or her father living with them. He was not patriotic, but rather aristocratic, wealthy, and an area banker who ran the community. Due to the disorganization of the teaching of religion, the Tallmansville Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1831, when a flourishing class was formed, including many of the Tallman family. Lucinda died in 1835, and he was remarried the following year to Philena Dow.
1840 census lists his family as:
male 2<5, 2=10-15, 1=20-30 fem 1=10-15, 1=20-30
He is listed in the 1850 census as Christopher P. Tallman (44, PA) a farmer, with his second wife Philena (33, PA) and his children Sidney (20), Edwin (12), Alanson (10), Philena (6), and Darwin (3).
In Honesdale on Dec 2, 1861 the Wayne County Agricultural and Mechanic Arts Society was formed with E. W. Hamlin as pres. and C. P. Tallman a respected octogenarian of Preston, as secretary. He favored the South during the Civil War, and in fact sold his timber to the South. At the end of the war he lost his money and prestige. C.P. was the Wayne County Surveyor from 1868 until 1877. Listed as a farmer in 1870 census with $10,000 of land, which is shown on an 1872 map under the name of Honorable C. P. Tallman.
Living with just his wife in 1880.