Life of Alphonso Taft

Front matter

■Vi

TTT^' a bv^^

LIFE OF ALPHONSO TAFT of CINCINNATI

Introduction

Alphonso Taft was the only American Statesman who held two Cabinet positions and two first class foreign missions. This fact alone would entitle him to first rank among the great men of his country. He played a big part in the affairs of his city, State and Nation. And from the beginning to the end he played it ably, modestly, and well. From soon after his arrival in Cincinnati he took an active and useful part in the municipal and civic affairs of the city and he early and easily went to the front as a leanied and successful lawyer. As a practitioner he was conspicuous, not only for his success at the bar but also for his generous and kind treatment of those who had the advantage of his services. Rich clients paid him well, but the less wealthy paid lightly, or not at all.

When he was well advanced in life he remarked one day : " I really never made any money practicing law ; I maintained my family and educated my children; that was all. Whatever I have accumulated is mainly the result of the increase in value of the property I bought on Fourth street early after I came to Cincinnati." But it was as a jurist that those who knew him best prized him most highly.

On one occasion when Judge William H. Taft afterwards President of the United States, had been on the bench but a little while I happened to go into his courtroom with an old lawyer friend of Judge Taft, a very able man, and one competent to speak on such matters. The young Judge was rendering an oral decision. My companion soon became deeply interested and turned to me with, " Listen to that " — " Now just listen, will you ? " The case was one growing out of the infringement on the label on a catsup bottle. The defendant had produced a label of the same color but with entirely different wording. The Judge went on to analyze the case, cite authorities, and explain the differences. As he finished the old lawyer said with great earnestness, " That young man has the judicial temperament, and the power of analysis and clear presentation of his father to an extent that is amazing," and he went on, " Alphonso Taft was naturally and by education one of the greatest of judges. His friends regretted that he did not head for the U. S. Supreme Court instead of entering active politics. When he was made Attorney General of the United States, we hoped that General Grant would find a place for him on the bench of the ^Nation's highest tribunal. But no available vacancy seemed to occur."

When the old Whig party went to pieces he readily grasped the necessity for a new organization to succeed it and he believed that the slavery question offered the basis and rallying cry for the new party. Never a radical he seized upon the various phases of the anti-slavery issues that appealed most effectively to the common sense, sympathy, and intuitive justice of the people. As a delegate to the first JSTational Republican Convention at Philadelphia, he was earnest, active, and useful. It was he, with his friend Thomas Spooner of Cincinnati, that designated the keynote orator on that epoch-making occasion.

His selection as Secretary of War and his advancement to the position of Attorney General of the United States were made on merit and with little of the political influence that frequently controls such opportunities. The same can be said of his appointment to the Court of Austria Hungary, and of his promotion to the Court of the Czar. Returning from abroad he lived quietly in Cincinnati until the last few years of his life, which he spent in California.

Judge Taft was a large man, large in body as well as in mind. He had to a wonderful degree the kindness, geniality, and laudable qualities which so often go with large men. He was one you would know with affectionate regard in life and about whom you would delight to write after he had passed away.

This is a carefully and conservatively told storv of the

INTRODUCTION 21

life work of a most active, useful and able man. It is the story of one who secured a fine education through his own efforts, and rose to distinction by means of his own ambition, industry and integrity. It is a story to inspire young men to nobler efforts and to make them take greater pride in the men of the past and be more hopeful, more ambitious, and more determined for their own futures. We are told that now more than at any previous period, our young men are anxious to read of the careers of successful men, especially of those who have achieved success by their own efforts. Such readers will be pleased, entertained and inspired by studying the life of Alphonso Taft.

LEWIS A. LEONARD

CERTIFICATE TO ALPHONSO TAFT IN THE HANDWRITING OF PRESIDENT DAY OF YALE

THE TAFT HOME, WEST TOWNSHEND, VT.

Chapter I

An Interesting Period — The Tafts Go to Vermont — Alphonso Taft's School Days — In College — Incidents OF and Costs of a College Course.

A life spanning the time of Alphonso Taft's career covered the most interesting and progressive era in the world's history. Gren. Washington had been dead but ten years when he was born and the doings of the revolutionary period were household topics in his boyhood days. The federal constitution was in its experimental period during his student life and he was ten years old when George III died. He witnessed the development of farm utensils from the plow with a wooden mold-board that he followed in that rich Vermont soil to the splendid steam machinery of the modern farm. He saw slavery abolished in every part of the world, his own state of Vermont being the first in America to do it, and he beheld the principles of a Republican government established in his own country. He saw the development of the steam engine, the railroad, steam navigation, the electric telegraph, the telephone, the invention of matches, the cotton gin, the sewing machine and the thousands of other articles that contribute to the comfort and convenience of mankind.

'No period in the world's history is comparable to it unless it be that era around the sixteenth century that gave mankind Christopher Columbus with the discovery of America, the Reformation, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, and the others who helped to light the world as it emerged from the dark ages. Even the gleam thrown upon the human pathway at that time was a mere glimmer compared with the effulgence shed during the century just closed. The world made greater progress during the nineteenth century than it did from the days of Abraham to the establishment of the American Republic.

It is of one who lived a life of active, useful, and intelkctual industry, covering most of this period, that these pages are written.

Alphonso Taft, teacher, lawyer, statesman, and successful worker in civic affairs, was born Nov. 5, 1810, on a farm in East Townshend, Windham County, Vermont, seventeen miles from Brattleboro. He was the third generation of Tafts who had lived on that fertile and attractive spot.

When Aaron Taft, his grandfather, determined to better the condition of his family and himself by moving from Uxbridge, Mass., to the new State of Vermont, he showed the Taft discrimination in selecting the best land to be found. That had been a family trait. At Mendon, generations before, the Tafts occupied the finest farms in the town, and at Uxbridge the same rule had been followed.

When Aaron Taft had made up his mind to move to Vermont, he also determined to settle on a fertile place. His theory was that it costs no more to cultivate good land than poor while the returns are so much greater. Therefore, in the fall after he had determined to move to Vermont, he made trips to various sections and looked carefully, as well as critically, for Aaron Taft was a competent farmer and knew soil as well as conditions likely to make a good home and a profitable farm.

The arrangements for the trip were perfected in the fall so that the journey could be made as soon as the winter weather put the roads in a condition desirable for such travel. Even the stopping places were designated and the time to be taken between each was definitely marked out. These were days when oxen were the reliable draft animals. Five ox teams drew a large and a small sled, carrying the implements and household effects, while Aaron Taft and the family with some light articles traveled in a covered sled that years afterwards would have been described as a prairie schooner on runners. Thus the cavalcade marched on, except Peter R., the fourteen-year-old son, who walked the entire distance and drove the cow. This was no slight achievement. A walk of eighty miles through the snows of a typical New England winter was something to remember, to say nothing of driving

AN INTERESTING PERIOD 27

the cow. And though Mr. Peter R. Taft lived to be an elderly man and filled many honorable positions, it is said that he related no incident of his life with as much pride and pleasure as the account of the walk from Uxbridge, Mass., to Windham County, Vermont. And Peter made no complaint except that if it had not been for the rest of the procession he and the cow could have made the distance in much less time. The snow at the time was six feet deep in Southern Vermont.

Arriving at their destination, the spot that has ever since been known as Taft's Hill was covered with snow that glistened in a beautiful midday sun. All were delighted, but the oxen could not draw the loads up the hill. However, welcoming neighbors came to the rescue and fifteen yoke of oxen were used in making the last half mile of the journey.

The boy's mother was very anxious about him, especially during the first part of the trip. She insisted that he sit on the back seat and lead the cow. But this arrangement did not meet the approval of either Peter or the animal as was shown by several ineffectual efforts to put it into operation.

Aaron Taft had bought the farm of Peter Hazeltine, containing one hundred acres with improvements. It was a good farm — an unusually good farm — and it ought to have been, for Aaron Taft paid him five hundred and sixty-seven dollars for it. This transaction represented a large payment by Mr. Taft. Next to air and water, land was the most plentiful article considered. Aaron Taft had looked over the available properties and bought this farm on the 23rd of December, 1796, and returned to Uxbridge in time for the removal of his family at the first opportunity during the winter. They reached their new home early in February. In 1769 Aaron Taft had married Rhoda Rawson and for years had been a leading citizen of Uxbridge, having held the position of town clerk for many years.

There was quite a movement of settlers of Southern Massachusetts to the rich lands of Vermont about this time, and the Tafts caught the fever. Aaron Taft had been a college student and in all respects a cultivated man and soon became a useful citizen of Windham County. He lived until 1808. The farm had been well cultivated under his care and had yielded well for the family.

Peter Rawson Taft, a vigorous youngster, grew up and came into possession of Taft Hill, a much finer farm when he took it than when Peter Hazeltine sold it to his father some ten years before. He had attended the district school and had the assistance of a highly educated father, and he was a great reader and had become equipped as a well-informed man. He taught school, and was made county surveyor and magistrate, and while yet a young man filled the most important Town and County offices. Later he was chosen Probate Judge and Judge of the Windham County Court, and in 1833-34 he represented Townshend in the General Assembly. While occupying many of these positions he continued to act as Justice of the Peace, making the record of twenty-two years as a justice.

He married Sylvia Howard, the daughter of Henry Howard, whose father had bought the farm adjoining Taft's Hill and had built the first frame house in the town. The Howard property had by this union become incorporated into the Taft Hill farm. Thus Peter Rawson Taft lived the life of a busy practical country gentleman, beloved by his family and respected, admired and honored by his neighbors. Later in life he removed to Cincinnati to join his son, Alphonso, who had become a prominent citizen of that city.

Alphonso Taft, only son of Peter R. Taft and Sylvia Howard Taft, was born in Townshend, Vermont. He inherited the strong points of the Tafts, the Rawsons and the Howards, whose blood mingled in his veins. From a child he was large of frame, vigorous of intellect and unusually ambitious. As a boy he did chores on the farm and about the house, but did them with a determination that farming was not to be his lifework. He was a good student and encouraged as well as aided by his father he soon passed through the district school.

After a session at the academy, he taught the school at

AN INTEEESTING PEEIOD 29

West Townshend, saving every cent lie could for the expense of the college education he had in mind. In many other ways he was able to earn money, especially by helping his father as a surveyor. During the years 1827-28 he attended Amherst for three or four sessions. He made the trip from Brattleboro to North Hadley by boat, which could be done inexpensively, and walked from North Hadley, ten miles across to Amherst. Alphonso was a powerful lad as well as a great walker, and thought nothing of these ten-mile tramps across country, going to and returning from Amherst. This institution, then only three or four years a college, did not quite measure up to Alphonso's idea of the institution he would attend after preparation for his collegiate course. He had Yale in his mind from the beginning, and in this he was encouraged by his father. By his work of tutoring and his teaching in the village high school, he found himself ready to enter Yale in 1829.

The President of Yale University spoke of Alphonso Taft as a gentleman of liberal attainments, of estimable character, and disting-uished in literature and science. And another who knew him well mentioned him as " A man of high principle, rugged honesty and sterling integrity, and withal a strong and able man." These characteristics of the man were indicated by every act and impulse of the boy. He passed through college in a most creditable manner, graduating third in his class.

While in college Alphonso Taft took a deep interest in society activities, and was one of the first members of Skull and Bones. He was also a member of Brothers in Unity, and of Phi Beta Kappa.

The catalogue of the graduating year of Mr. Taft is interesting. There were ninety-three members of his class in the senior year. Reverend Jeremiah Day was President of the College, Professor Benjamin Silliman was Professor of Chemistry, Professor James L. Kingsley was Professor of Latin, Professor Denison Olmstead was Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Professor Theodore D. Woolsey was Professor of the Greek Language and Literature. The undergraduates in the Academic Department numbered 354. There were in addition forty-nine theological students and thirty-one law students. The curriculum for the senior class was as follows :

I. Blair's Rhetoric.

Stewart's Philosophy of the Mind.

Brown's Philosophy of the Mind.

Paley's Moral Philosophy.

Greek and Latin.

II. Paley's Natural Theology.

Evidences of Christianity.

Greek and Latin.

III. Say's Political Economy.

The following comment is well worth reading at this time : "The object of the system of instruction to the undergraduates in the college, is not to give a partial education, consisting of a few branches only; nor, on the other hand, to give a superjicial education, containing a little of almost everything; nor to finish the details of either a professional or practical education ; but to commence a thorough course, and to carry it as far as the time of the student's residence here will allow.

" It is intended to maintain such a proportion between the different branches of literature and science, as to form a proper symmetry and balance of character. In laying the foundation of a thorough education, it is necessary that all the important faculties be brought into exercise. When certain mental endowments receive a much higher culture than others, there is a distortion in the intellectual character. The powers of the mind are not developed in their fairest proportions by studying langiiages alone, or mathematics alone, or natural or political science alone. The object in the proper collegiate department is not to teach that which is peculiar to any one of the professions but to lay the foundation which is common to them all. There are separate

AN INTERESTING PERIOD 33

schools of Medicine, Law and Theology, connected with the college, as well as in various parts of the country, which are open to all who are prepared to enter on professional studies. With these, the under-graduate course is not intended to interfere. It contains those subjects only which ought to be understood by every one who aims at a thorough education. The principles of science and literature are the common foundation of all high intellectual attainments. They give that discipline and elevation of the mind which are the best preparation for the study of a profession, or of the operations which are peculiar to the higher mercantile, manufacturing or agricultural establishments."

A comparison of the cost of education in 1833 with that at the present time is interesting.

The annual charges in the treasurer's bill are:

For instruction $33 . 00

For rent of chamber in college from 6 to 12 dollars,

average 9.00

For ordinary repairs and contingencies 2 . 40

For general damages, sweeping, etc., about 3.30

For wood for recitation rooms, about 1.30

$49.00

Besides this the student may be charged for damages done by himself, and a small sum for printing catalogues and other occasional expenses.

Board is furnished in commons by the Steward at cost, about $1.60 per week, or $64.00 a year, not including vacations. It varies, however, with the price of provisions. Wood is procured by the Corporation and distributed to those students who apply for it, at cost and charges.

The students provide for themselves bed and bedding, furniture for their rooms, candles, books, stationery and washing. There are also, in the several classes, taxes of a small amount for the fuel in the recitation rooms, catalogues, etc. If books and furniture are sold when the student has no further necessity for them, the expense incurred

by their use will not be great.

The following may be considered as a near estimate of

the necessary expenses, without including apparel, pocket

money, traveling and board in vacations :

Treasurer's bill as above $49 $49

Board in commons, 40 weeks from 60 to 70

8 " 16 5 " 15 5 " 15 8 " 18 5 " 7

Fuel and light

Use of books and stationery

Use of furniture, bed and bedding.

Washing

Taxes in the classes, etc

The following admonition is interesting:

'* With regard to apparel, and what is called the pocketmoney, no general estimate can be made. These are the articles in which the expenses of the individuals differ most; and in which some are unwarrantably extravagant. There is nothing by which the character and scholarship of the students of this college is more endangered than by a free indulgence in the use of money. Great caution with regard to this is a requisite on the part of the parents. What is more than sufficient to defray the ordinary expenses will expose the student to numerous temptations; and will not contribute either to his respectability or happiness."

CHAPTER II Teaching at Ellington — Rum and Tobacco Contests

TUTOES AND PrEPAEES FOE THE LaW LoOKS OvER

THE West and Decides to Settle in Cincinnati.

At the time of young Taft's graduation from Yale, Judge Hall, head of the High School at Ellington, Conn., found himself in need of a teacher, and made his wants known to the college.

Alphonso Taft was recommended for the place, and after some correspondence with Judge Hall was engaged. He returned to his home in Vermont to make such advantageous use of his time as was possible till the opening of the Ellington School in the fall. He taught summer term in the academy, tutored some boys preparing for college and helped his father on the farm, as well as with some jobs of surveying. Altogether he enjoyed a busy and profitable summer and had accumulated a tidy little sum when he was ready to go to Ellington. But this money was not to go for traveling expenses. He had other plans in mind. It was only about eighty miles, the roads were good, the scenery fine and the trip would be pleasant as well as economical and he made the journey on foot, the first of several made in the same way over this route. Ellington was a quaint village located in the northeastern part of Tolland Township, some fifteen miles from Hartford. He was well impressed on reaching the place. The High School, an Academy, and Judge Hall's house, were spacious and well-appearing buildings. He found Judge Hall a typical New England schoolmaster of that day. He was competent, positive and punctual, and expected the same of all those around him.

Ellington was a town that stood out in contrast with most parts of Tolland County and the young teacher couldn't help being deeply interested in the discussions that rent the community. Previously the section had been entirely a rye growing and gin making one, but sentiment adverse to gin making had put the rve and gin industry into disrepute, and tobacco was taking the place of rye as a staple crop. The friends of rye and gin argiied that tobacco no more sustained life than the old products, but as the soil and climate were adapted to the production of fine tobacco the friends of the weed won. The discussions were at the point of greatest interest when the young teacher reached Judge Hall's school, and were kept up with more or less intensity during his residence there. He took little or no part in the arguments, but was always interested. He became identified with the lyceuni, and soon was one of the most interested and entertaining of the members. And so passed pleasantly and profitably his first year at Ellington. Judge Hall was pleased with the work of the young man and invited him back for another year. As there was nothing better in view he accepted and arranged to continue his work at Ellington. At the close of the school he walked back to Townshend and put in another summer much as he had done the previous one. And when his work at Ellington was completed and he had made arrangements for other activities he walked back to Townshend, making four times he had traversed this route on foot, and he insisted that the trip was never a hardship.

Though earnestly urged to return to Ellington he decided not to do so because he had other plans in mind. He had determined to study law, and after his admission to the bar to go west and practice. With this in view he returned to Yale College as a tutor, and while so engaged entered the law school. He graduated from the Yale Law School in 1838 and was admitted to the Connecticut bar at New Haven. Though frugal and thrifty, young Taft was in no sense parsimonious. While at law school he became interested in an unusually bright and promising boy, St. John Etheredge. The father of this boy suddenly lost his fortune and St. John was about to be taken from school. At this stage his friend Taft came to the rescue and paid the college expenses for the remainder of the time and had the satisfaction of seeing the young man graduate at the head of the

TEACHING AT ELLINGTON 37

class. It was the purpose of Mr. Taft to associate young St. John with him as a law partner when he had become settled as a practitioner, but unfortunately the boy died soon after leaving college. He passed away at the Taft home in Townshend, Vt.

Having rounded up his affairs and with a sum of money on hand which he believed would be sufficient to carry him to the time when his earnings could be relied upon, he determined to make a trip West and select his future home. But first he went back to Townshend to spend the summer, or a part of it, and to talk over future plans. Much of this talk about the future was with Miss Fannie Phelps, who was the daughter of Charles Phelps of Townshend, one of the most prominent lawyers of Windham County.

He had been strongly urged to settle in Zanesville, O. This was a promising city and there was believed to be a good opening for a lawyer. But his own inclination was towards Cincinnati, the sprightliest and most progressive city of the Central West. However, he would go West and carefully look over the situation for himself. On both his first and second visit he looked at a number of places that had been recommended, and on the second visit he spent considerable time in Zanesville seeing the sights and considering the matter of making this place his future home, and here he was admitted to the Ohio bar. The main part of the old historical hotel which was the first in this section had been torn down some years before, and workmen were taking away the remainder while he was there. This historic hostelry stood at what was then the corner of Market and Second streets, a short distance from the river. Visitors were told that Louis Phillipe, King of France, was once a guest of this house. Mr. Mclntyre, the proprietor, was known far and wide. The incident of the King stopping there is told by Gen. Lewis Cass in his " Camp and Court of Louis Philippe " saying: " At Zanesville the party found the comfortable cabin of Mr. Mclntyre, whose name has been preserved in the King's memory, and whose house was a favorite place of rest and refreshment for all travelers who at this early period were compelled to traverse that part of the country." This incident and many others of interest were related to young Taft by the friends who would have him make Zanesville his future home. His stay there was made very entertaining, and he always recalled it with pleasant memories, but with satisfaction that, though Zanesville was the place where he became an Ohio lawyer, he had decided on Cincinnati as his future home.

Chapter III

Goes to His 'New Home — A Trip on the Ohio River — Incidents of the Old Days — The Queen City of THE West — Marriage of Alphonso Taft and Fanny Phelps.

In making his second trip West young Taft was able to lay out his plans more definitely ; the first time he merely was going to look around; this time he was going to Cincinnati, where he had determined to make his home. He laid out the best route, the one likely to be most comfortable and least expensive. This was from Brattleboro to Pittsburgh and thence by steamer down the Ohio river to Cincinnati. Steamers were then plying between Pittsburgh and New Orleans, making stops at the principal places on the way. Young Taft so timed his trip as to make Cincinnati on the George Washington, the finest steamer on the western waters. To be sure of being on time he got to Pittsburgh two days before the sailing time of the steamer. But he went right on board and occupied the room that had been reserved for him. He didn't mind the wait as it gave him time to look around Pittsburgh and to take some walks into the surrounding country. Pittsburgh people then used wood for fuel and the city was very clean and attractive. With his affable manner and friendly ways he had become well acquainted with the officers of the boat and some of the passengers even before sailing time. He was greatly interested in what the clerk told him of the George Washington, the pride of the Ohio and Mississippi trade. Mr. Roosevelt of New York, a man connected with the marine matters of the metropolis, conceived the idea of building a boat at Pittsburgh for the western trade that should excel anything heretofore constructed in size, beauty and convenience. The George Washington was the result of that effort and an amazing success she had proved to be. She was no longer a new craft, but was still the finest steamer afioat. Mr.

Taft was interested in the clerk's explanation of the origin of the word " stateroom." Mr. Koosevelt was a man of enterprise, money and ideas, and used all of these unsparingly in producing the George Washington. The boat was fitted with luxurious sleeping rooms as well as comfortable berths. He named the rooms for the 26 states, eight territories, and one district. The passenger, instead of asking for No. 7, requested that he be assigned to Massachusetts or New Hampshire. On having the system explained to him Mr. Taft had asked for Vennont, and that room being taken he had been successful in getting Ohio, and a pleasant room it proved to be. Other owners of steamboats followed the example of Mr, Roosevelt, and rooms on the boats became staterooms. Finally the names of the states were dropped and numbers substituted, but the rooms continvied to be " staterooms." By sailing time the passenger list was well filled, and the trip down the Ohio was promptly commenced. And a great trip it was in those days, many of its features being new and some startling to the young New Englander. There were the business men, the folks going west, the swaggering gamblers, and the travelers for pleasure from all over the world. There were the hustling roustabouts and the mate with scientific profanity urging them to greater speed in their work. At every stopping place wood for fuel was replenished and freight put ashore and taken aboard. The arrival of the steamer was an event at every town, people rushing to the landing to see the sights and hear the news. There were no telegraphs and the inhabitants of each locality mostly got the news from the steamboats. It was some five years after this that James K. Polk was informed of his nomination for the Presidency in this way. The delegation returning from the Convention, headed by Major Polk, his brother, was met at landing by James K. Polk, who had run down bare-headed with his long hair streaming in the wind and exclaimed, " Whom did they nominate? " His brother answered with " Who do you think ? " and got the reply, " Some damned fool that nobody had thought of." His brother came back with, " Guessed it the first time. You,