Charles Phelps Taft
Encyclopedia
Charles Phelps Taft I was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer and politician.

Biography

He was born on December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 to Alphonso Taft
Alphonso Taft
Alphonso Taft was the Attorney General and Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant and the founder of an American political dynasty. He was the father of U.S...

, and his brother was President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

.

He graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1864, and from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

's law department in 1866. In 1867 he received another degree from the University of Heidelberg. In 1869 he resumed his law practice.

Taft married Anna Sinton in 1873, who was an heiress to a pig iron fortune, left by her father David Sinton
David Sinton
David Sinton was a pig-iron industrialist, born in County Armagh, Ireland, who became one of the wealthiest men in America....

.

In 1879 he became editor of the Cincinnati Times-Star, which would later be bought by the Cincinnati Post. This began the Taft media empire which was his main claim to fame. In 1895 he went to Congress
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, but served only two years. He returned to the newspaper business after that and for a time owned the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 baseball team from 1914-1916.

He died on December 31, 1929.

Legacy

Following his death, Annie (Anna) Sinton Taft donated $5 million to the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

 in 1930 and established a memorial fund after his name. This fund was transformed in 2005 into the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati. The town of Taft, Texas
Taft, Texas
Taft is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,396 at the 2000 census. The city is served by Taft Independent School District.-Geography:Taft is located at ....

 was named after him in 1904.

External links


Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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