Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-14

Doy, VINO hd a tulls share OF the fun of his day and gave and recE
some OF the hard knocks of boyhood; the fearless judge, the p
maker of the Philippines and of Cuba, the war secretary, Pan
canal builder, globe-trotter and campaigner.
Secretary Taft is a peculiarly attractive personality. H,
warm-hearted, approachable, frank, and blessed with the sa
grace of humor, and at the same time he has always the sire
and courage of his sound convictions. His yes" means yes an,
mo" precisely what is spells. All along the path of this man
the boyhood to now. from the bulking youth who outwreted ever
at Yale to the "quickfooted fighting elephant of our modern pont
ready to run for the presidency If bis party SO DEGREES, one
gather incidents, which speak OF his courage, his strength, his
sacrifice, his endurance, his patience, and his intense human
HE shows u.s." writes Walter wellman, "a con-
vincng example that a man may smile and smile
and still be strong as a giant and firm as a rock.
He shows US how true was that word of the late
Senator Hoar that the best boy has something manly
about him, and the best man has much of the boy
in him Taft is a man many Of whose ways are
those Of the boy, a big, husky, rollcking boy, ever
ready for a laugh or a joke or a prank, yet never
overstepping the bounds of dignity, mixing Jest and
laughter with work, always bright and sunny, yet ~
always a marvel of industry and achievement"
The Taft family spring from New England
stock, both father and mother tracing their ances-
try back to the earliest colonial times. Shortly be-
fore her death last December Mrs. Louisa M. Taft, =
mother of the secretary of war, completed a gene
illogical history of the Tafts and of her own family.
the Torreys. tracing the former back to Robert Taft,
who settled in Mention. Mass, in 1869. and the lat
ter to William Torrey, an Engishman, who settled
in Weymouth, Mass, in 1910. "a
According to this record, the hrst American Taft
had five sons, one of whom, Joseph, born in 1880, -
married Elizabeth Emerson. the granddaughter Of Is
the first minister of Mention.
Joseph's second son was Captain Peter Taft,
born in 1715; Captain Peters third son was Aaron,
born in 1743. He was fitted for Princeton, but had
to leave college before he had finished, although he
had already established a reputation as a scholar.
He settled at Uxbridge. Mass, but removed to
Townsend, VT, where he died in 1903. He married
Rhoda Rawson, the Observation-Disclosures of
Edward Rawson, secretary of the Massachusetts
Bay colony from 1850 to 1885.
Peter Rawson, the third son of Aaron, born in
1875. married Sylvia Howard in 1910. He taught
school and was admitted to the bar. He became
Judge of the common pleas. judge or the probate
court. Judge of the county court OF Windham
county, was one of the county commissioners and
was for many years a member of the legislature. \
He removed to Cincinnati in 1871, where he
died in 1857. leaving one son, Alphonso.
Alphonso Taft, father of the secretary of war.
was born in 1910 in Tonwshend, VT, and was grad
uated from Yale In 1888. He taught for two years
in an academy in Ellington, Conn, and then became
q tutor at Yale.
He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and went to
Cincinnati the next year. In 1857 he argued before
the United States supreme court the claim of the city for the b
Of Charles McMicken, which secured the nucleus of the endoV
fund for the University of Cincinnati.
Mrs. Taft wrote concerning her husbands reputation Wn
was Judge Of the superior court;
mo young man was ever turned away because his case wa
sidered too small for the judges patience; no experienced
ever felt his case too large or the questions involved too intrics
the Judges capacity and learning. His most important case W
Bible in the Public Schools
1.-THE Catholics and Jews, who formed a large proportion
citizens of Cincinnati, complained on the introduction of rel
instruction into the public schools as violating the spirit OF tn
stttuuon. The school board stopped the reading OF the Bible
court was appealed to on the ground that the board had no POI
There was a violent contest and feeling ran high. To
TAFT there was no question of the right of the board to take
1t was not in his nature to consider for q moment popular
or the effect of his decision on his career.
1.-THE two other judges decided against the board. Judg
delivered an elaborate dissenting opinion. When the case was
to the supreme court of Ohio this opinion was sustained by Z
animous court of hve judges, and 1t has since become the
throughout the United States.
1.-THE Bible In Public Schools case arose in his path
times later. and probably prevented his being governor of
When, however, the storm of prejudice and bigotry had subsid
the people had time TO consider the matter Judge Tafts repJ
as q judge who knew neither fear nor favor inevitably increas
Judge Tafts first wife, Fanny Phelps, was a daughter of
Charles Phelps of Townshend. VT She died in 1851. Tire
dren were born to her, one of whom died in infancy.
Charles Phelps Taft, the second son, is the proprietor
Cincinnati Timesstar. The third son, Peter Rawson. died in
Judge Taft married Louisa Maria Torrey In 1853. He
son. Samuel Davenport Torrey, died in infancy. Secretary Ia
the second son, born September 10. 1857. Henry Waters Taft
York the third, Horace Dutton Taft the fourth. and the hu
is her daughter. Fanny Louise. wife of DR.. William A. Edw,
Los Angeles. Cal.
A striking similarity may be traced in the public car
trail of honor and usefulness blazed by the father. Both ga
from Yale college. Both were judges of courts and secreta
war. The father had more varied and extended exp
as American minister to courts OF Europe, while
sons experience was limited to negotiating a sett
Af the prior lands controversy at the Vatican, and personal
during last years tour of the world. The judicial nrmness, s
ship. executive ability and diplomatic skill stamped in the ca
the father shine with even greater luster In the SON because
wider range of experience in dealing with govrnmental pr
and diverse peoples. The son is one of the few men, II not Il
one, who has declined a seat on the bench of the federal b
court
"Tt has became automatic in Washington" writes Waite
man. that whenever trouble occurs anywhere in the world
the power of ordinary agencies to deal with. Taft is the mi
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