Charles Phelps Taft

Charles Phelps Taft I (December 21, 1843 – December 31, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician.

Biography

He was born on December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Alphonso Taft, and his brother was President William Howard Taft.

He graduated from Yale University in 1864, and from Columbia University'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.

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, but served only two years. He returned to the newspaper business after that and for a time owned the Chicago Cubs 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 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 was named after him in 1904.

External links

"Brother Charley" shown as part of president Taft's entourage

• Charles Phelps Taft at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Article mentioning him
• Piece on him
• Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati

Sources

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Bellamy Storer	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 1st congressional district March 4, 1895–March 4, 1897	Succeeded by William B. Shattuc
Business positions
Preceded by Charles Murphy	Owner of the Chicago Cubs 1914–1916	Succeeded by Charles Weeghman