Political

THE TAFTS

The first five cards in the 3rd row below show the home at 2038 Auburn where William Howard Taft was born on September 15, 1857. Taft lived here until he left Cincinnati to attend Yale University. His father Alphonso Taft (1810-1891) bought this house in 1851 and added the rear portion. He was president of the Mt. Auburn Street Railway Company, a judge on the Superior Court of Cincinnati. He also served as secretary of war, attorney general, and ambassador to Austria-Hungary and Russia. His first marriage to Fanny Phelps ended in 1852 with her death. This marriage produced two sons Charles Phelps (1843-1929), publisher of the Cincinnati Times-Star, and a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897, and Peter Rawson "Rossy" Taft, a lawyer and author. Alphonso's second wife was Louisa "Louise" Maria Torrey whom he married in December of 1863. They had 5 children, 4 of whom lived to adulthood. The first, Samuel Davenport Torrey Taft, died after 14 months of pertussis (?). The second was William Howard Taft, the third was Henry Waters Taft, who became a lawyer in New York City, the fourth was Horace Dutton Taft, founder of the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, and the last was Frances Louis "Fanny" Taft, who married a surgeon, William A. Edwards.

The non-postcard images above show Alfonso Taft and in the 2nd one his four sons together on November 2, 1925 at the dedication of the Alfonso Taft Law College at the University of Cincinnati. From left to right is New York attorney Henry W. Taft, Chief Justice and 27th President of the United States William Howard Taft, Cincinnati Times-Star owner Charles P. Taft, and Forrest D. Taft, head master of the Taft School at Watertown, Connecticut.

The two non-postcard images above are of Charles P. Taft and his wife Anna Sinton Taft. Charles bought the Cincinnati Times in 1879 to become its editor and publisher, he then added the Star in 1880 to make it the Cincinnati Times-Star. He also owned the German-language newspaper Volksblatt. The Tafts were very active in the life of Cincinnati. They were active with the May Festival, the Symphony, the Zoo, and the Zoo Opera. The Tafts gave the city their home, their art collection, and $2,700,000 in cash in 1932.
The original Taft home was divided into apartments in the 1920s and suffered from neglect for many years. Finally, in 1960, the William Howard Taft Memorial Association acquired the property. The National Park Service assumed curatorial duties in 1972. It is now a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Site.

The first cover above was issued September 17, 1988 for the dedication and opening of The William Howard Taft National Historic Site. The second cover was issued after his death in 1933 cancelled on his Birthday on September 15th.

Not postcards

The image above is of William Howard Taft as a student at Woodward High School, and a list of his accomplishments up to 1910. After that year any little thing like his being Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is missing.

      W. H. Taft                               W. H. & Chas. P. Taft                               Taft at Cincinnati        Trinity M. E. Church
                                                   in front of Taft home                                   Depot in 1908                  on 9th Street

I believe the 2nd and 3rd cards above were taken the same day. The only difference is in the 2nd card they are wearing something on their lapels which are not seen in the 3rd card. Of course they could have removed them for some reason or the publisher could have just edited them out which, I believe, is what happened.

Taft as a Mason

What is now the Taft Museum at 316 Pike St. was built in 1819-1820 for Martin Baum (1765-1831) an early entrepreneur. Financial reverses forced Baum to transfer title to his own bank in 1826. It was then used by the Belmont School, a female seminary, until 1830 when Nicholas Longworth, the city's first millionaire, bought the mansion.
David Sinton was a Pennsylvania iron magnate (see Sinton Hotel on buildings page) he bought the residence in 1871. Two years later his daughter, Anna (1852-1931) married Charles Phelps Taft. Charles and Anna Sinton Taft were dedicated preservationists and on June 2, 1927 the Tafts announced they would give their home, their personal art collection, and a one million dollar endowment for its maintenance if $2.5 million could be raised from the public. This condition was met and the Taft Museum opened in 1932.