Taft family

The Taft family of the United States hails from Cincinnati, Ohio with historic origins in Massachusetts; its members have served Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Utah, and the United States in various positions, such as Governor of Ohio, Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator (two), U.S. Representative (two), Attorney General, Secretary of War (two), United States Secretary of Agriculture, President, and Chief Justice.

Overview

The first known ancestor of the Taft family is Robert Taft, Sr, who was born about 1640 in England and died in 1725 in Mendon, Massachusetts. His wife Sarah was born in England, too; they married in 1668 in Braintree, Massachusetts. Robert Taft, Sr began a homestead in what is today Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and was then Mendon, Massachusetts, circa 1680. His son, Robert Taft II, was a member of the the founding Board of Selectmen, for the new Town of Uxbridge, in 1727. A branch of the Massachusetts Taft family, descended from Daniel Taft, Robert Taft, Sr's son, born at Braintree, 1677-1761, died at Mendon. This branch of the Taft family claims America's First Woman Voter, Lydia Taft, and five generations of Massachusetts legislators and public servants beginning with Lydia's husband, Josiah Taft. The Tafts were very prominently represented as soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, mostly in the New England States. Peter Rawson Taft I, was born in Uxbridge in 1785, and moved to Townshend, Vermont circa 1800. He became a Vermont State Legislator. His son, Alphonso Taft, was born in Townshend. He attended Yale and founded Skull and bones. Peter Rawson Taft I died at Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Peter Rawson Taft, was the grandfather of President William Howard Taft. Alphonso Taft was Secretary of War and Attorney General of the United States and the father of President Taft.

Note that Lorado Taft, the sculptor, is included. He is not a political person; he is only included because his daughter, Emily Taft Douglas, was a U.S. Representative.

Family tree

Prominent members of the Taft family include:

*Robert Taft (1640-1724), the immigrant
**Joseph Taft (1680-1747), son of Robert Taft
***Peter Taft (1715-1783), son of Joseph Taft
****Aaron Taft (1743-1808), son of Peter Taft
*****Peter Rawson Taft I (1785-1867), son of Aaron Taft: member of the Vermont legislature
******Alphonso Taft (1810-1891), son of Peter Rawson Taft I: U.S. secretary of war (1876), U.S. attorney general (1876-1877); married first to Fanny Phelps, and second to his cousin Louisa Maria Torrey (see below)
*******Charles Phelps Taft I (1843-1929), son of Alphonso Taft: U.S. representative (1895-1897), publisher ("Cincinnati Times-Star"), U.S. representative, owner of the Chicago Cubs until 1916
********Hulbert Taft Sr.: Publisher ("Cincinnati Times-Star") - son of Charles Phelps Taft I
*********Hulbert Taft Jr., son of Hulbert Taft Sr.: Broadcaster (Taft Broadcasting)
**********Dudley S. Taft Sr.: businessman, member of the boards of Taft Broadcasting, Cinergy, Tribune Co.
*******William Howard Taft I (1857-1930), son of Alphonso Taft: U.S. president (1909-1913), U.S. chief justice (1921-1930), U.S. secretary of war (1904-1908)
********Robert Alphonso Taft I (1889-1953), son of William Howard Taft I: U.S. senator from Ohio (1939-1953)
*********William Howard Taft III (1915-1991), son of Robert Alphonso Taft I: ambassador to Ireland
**********William Howard Taft IV, son of William Howard Taft III: chief legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State
*********Robert Taft (Jr.) (1917-1993), son of Robert Alphonso Taft I: U.S. senator from Ohio (1971-1977)
**********Robert Alphonso Taft II (1942-), son of Robert Taft (Jr.): governor of Ohio (1999-2007)
*********Horace Dwight Taft (1925-1983), son of Robert Alphonso Taft I: physics professor and Dean of Faculty at Yale University
********Charles Phelps Taft II (1897-1983), son of William Howard Taft I: Charterite Cincinnati mayor (1955-1957), Cincinnati city council member (1938-1942), Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutor (1927-1928), candidate for governor of Ohio (1952), candidate for Republican nomination for Ohio governor (1958)
*********Seth Chase Taft I, son of Charles Phelps Taft II: Candidate for Ohio Senate (1962); candidate for mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (1967); candidate for Republican nomination for governor of Ohio (1982)
********* Peter Rawson Taft II, son of Charles Phelps Taft II; United States Assistant Attorney General Department of Justice; married to Diana Todd
*******Henry Waters Taft (1859-1945), son of Alphonso Taft: candidate for justice of New York Court of Appeals (1898); New York delegate to Republican National Convention (1920, 1924); named partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (from 1919)
********Walbridge Smith Taft (1885-1951), son of Henry Waters Taft: Candidate for U.S. representative from New York
*******Horace Dutton Taft I (1861-1943), son of Alphonso Taft: author, founder of The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut
**Robert Taft II (1674-1748), son of Robert Taft, Founding Board of Selectmen, Town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts
***Robert Taft III (1697-1777), son of Robert Taft II
****Robert Taft IV (1724-1787), son of Robert Taft III
*****Lovett Taft (1756-1837), son of Robert Taft IV
******Aurin Post Taft (1788-1861), son of Lovett Taft
*******Frederick Lovett Taft I (1811-1869), son of Lovett Taft
********Newton Archibald Taft (1843-1890), son of Frederick Lovett Taft I
*********Frederick Lovett Taft II (1870-1913), son of Newton Archibald Taft
**********Kingsley Arter Taft (1903-1970), son of Frederick Lovett Taft II: U.S. senator, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
***********David Taft, son of Kingsley Arter Taft: COO of Landec Corp., trustee of Kenyon College
***********Sheldon A. Taft, son of Kingsley Arter Taft: candidate for Ohio Supreme Court judgeship
***Israel Taft, son of Robert Taft II
****Jacob Taft, son of Israel Taft
*****Jacob Taft, son of Jacob Taft
******Orsmus Taft, son of Jacob Taft and his 1st cousin once removed, Mary Taft
*******Royal Chapin Taft, son of Orasmus Taft; Governor of Rhode Island (1888-1889)
*****Eastman Taft, son of Jacob Taft
******Chloe Taft, daughter of Eastman Taft and his 2nd cousin, Hannah Taft
*******Ezra Taft Benson I, son of Chloe Taft; Mormon apostle and Representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature
********George Taft Benson I, son of Ezra Taft Benson I
*********George Taft Benson II, son of George Taft Benson I
**********Ezra Taft Benson II, son of George Taft Benson II; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Leader of the LDS Church 1985-94
***********Bonnie Amussen Benson, daughter of Ezra Taft Benson II
************Mark Benson Madsen, son of Bonnie Amussen Benson, Utah State Senate 2002-current
***********Mark A. Benson, son of Ezra Taft Benson II
************Steve Benson, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist
****Huldah Taft, daughter of Israel Taft
*****Chloe Daniel, daughter of Huldah Taft
******Anna Davenport, daughter of Chloe Daniel
*******Samuel Davenport Torrey, son of Anna Davenport
********Louisa Maria Torrey, daughter of Samuel Davenport Torrey; married to her 4th cousin twice removed, Alphonso Taft (see above)
***John Taft, son of Robert Taft II
****Jesse Taft, son of John Taft
*****Hannah Taft, daughter of Jesse Taft, married to her 2nd cousin, Eastman Taft (see above)
****Mary Taft, daughter of John Taft, married to her 1st cousin once removed, Jacob Taft (see above)
**Daniel Taft, son of Robert Taft, Massachusetts General Court, Colonial Legislature
***Daniel Taft II, son of Daniel Taft
****Nathan Taft, son of Daniel Taft II
*****Zadok Lovell Taft, son of Nathan Taft
******Don Carlos Taft, son of Zadok Lovell Taft
*******Lorado Zadoc Taft, son of Don Carlos Taft; sculptor
********Emily Taft Douglas, daughter of Lorado Taft; Congresswoman, U.S. representative
***Josiah Taft, Massachusetts General Court, Legislature-married to Lydia Taft, America's First Woman Voter
****Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Sr. Massachusetts General Court, Legislature
*****Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr Massachusetts General Court, Legislature,
******George Spring Taft, Secretary for U.S. Senator George Hoar

References

External links

* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~taft/ Taft Family Genealogy Page]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/1334.html The Political Graveyard - Taft Family]