The Tafts: The First Family of Ohio

William Howard Taft, the 27th President and 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in nCincinati, Ohio (map, wiki-history). His parents moved to the country hills surrounding the city for the better air the rural countryside provided.

The home itself (see right, click to enlarge) can be toured (map, national park website) and there is a visitor center adjacent to the property. The home has many unique features of the time, including a basement cistern and natural gas lighting. The home has been lovingly restored to how it looked during Taft's childhood in the 1860s.

Alphonso Taft (see left, click to enlarge) moved to Cincinnati to take advantage of the booming metropolis on the Ohio River. Much can be read of Alphonso in the visitor center, but I could not help snap a picture of him (left) as he appears to be the forebear of the comic Robin Williams (see right) as much as William Howard Taft. Alphonso became Secretary of War, then Attorney General, in the Ulysses Grant administration.

The Taft family has become Ohio's First Family, as William Howard Taft became president, son Robert Taft went on to an illustrious career in the U.S. Senate, grandson Robert, Jr (son to Robert, Sr.) served one term as Senator and great grandson Robert Taft (son and grandson of the Roberts) recently stepped down after being term-limited out after two terms as Governor of Ohio. I found the quote shown to the right (also on display at the visitor center) quite poignant.

You can see the striking resemblance in the photo to the left (click to enlarge) of Governor Bob Taft (photo link) in the face of one of his Taft ancestors seated with William Howard Taft. There was no listing at the Taft site of who all were in the photo, but the receding hair line and face are nearly dead-on of Bob Taft. The photo appears to be from at some point in the 1920's or thereabout.

Touring the Taft House with a National Park Ranger yields greater insight. There are both architectural and family history to learn as well as the politics behind becoming president.

The homestead is unusual in many ways, but most compelling is the lot size. It was originally one lot wide and about 10 lots deep. The lot sloped downhill away from the house into stables, a pasture and garden. Today the lot is about one-quarter of what is pictured to the above right (click to enlarge).

The rooms in the house are small and you can tell where additions had been created over time. The front parlor, where William spent a lot of time, features a small table that had a lamp with a cord that could be connected to the chandelier natural gas light to provide gas for a table top lamp (see left, click to enlarge).

Some of the artifacts in the house include remnants of the fight for the Republican nomination in 1912 between Taft and Teddy Roosevelt. I found this former magazine cartoon (see right, click to enlarge) particularly interesting and a great teaching tool for how a political party can be fractured by in-fighting. This tussle put three people on the ticket in 1912 and the split between Taft and Teddy allowed for Woodrow Wilson to capture the White House.

One of the well-documented Taft tidbits includes a photo in the Taft House of the quite portly Taft's new White House bathtub (see left, click to enlarge). While kids find it amusing that Taft got stuck in the bathtub, the idea of a 300+ pound individual in the early 1900s is hard to fathom when the typical adult male was not even half that size.

I found the menu to the right (click to enlarge) to be an interesting glimpse into childhood play and imagination from another era. The Taft children would print up special menus for their parent's dinner party guests that included both color and colorful language. Notice the menu is entirely in French.

A picture inside the home reveals what it looked like from the outside during Taft's childhood days. As it happens in history, a home will be sold outside the family and renovated to fit the time and the needs of its surroundings. The Taft House when through several external looks over time. It was interesting, and didn't take long, to walk outside and find the approximate point for a modern comparison photo to that in 1868. Below (click to enlarge) you can see a Photoshop blending of the old with the current to see how lovingly it has been restored.

Ohio is fortunate to have been the birthplace and/or home of eight Presidents, most of which can be toured. The Taft House is a nice stop to make to combine both the architectural and political impact of the Tafts and of Cincinnati.

- J.