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Horace Dutton Taft (28 December 1861-28 January 1943) was an American educator, and the founder of The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, United States.

He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, the younger brother of William Howard Taft. He graduated from Yale University in 1883, where he was a member of Skull and Bones and won the Townsend Prize.

He went on to Cincinnati Law School, but passed the bar after his second year and practiced law briefly at a firm with his father Alfonso Taft. Knowing he preferred education, he returned to Yale to tutor Latin.

In 1890 he opened a college preparatory school for boys in Pelham Manor, New York.

On 29 June 1892 he married Winifred Shepard Thompson, an art teacher at a New Haven high school. She died of cancer in 1909. There were no children of the marriage.

In 1893 he moved his school to Watertown, Connecticut, purchasing the Warren House, a Civil War-era hotel, and adopting the name The Taft School in 1898.

Taft retired as headmaster in 1936 but continued to teach a course in Civics until his death.

References

Ishbel Ross, An American Family: The Tafts 1678 to 1964, World Publishing Co., Cleveland, 1964.

Horace Dutton Taft, Memories and Opinions, Macmillan, New York, 1942.

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 '''Horace Dutton Taft''' (28 December 1861-28 January 1943) was an [[United States|American]] educator, and the founder of [[The Taft School]] in [[Watertown, Connecticut]], [[United States]].
-He was born at [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], the younger brother of [[William Howard Taft]]. After graduation from [[Yale University]] in 1883, where he was a member of [[Skull and Bones]], he won the Townsend Prize and later became a tutor of Latin at Yale.
+He was born at [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], the younger brother of [[William Howard Taft]]. He graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1883, where he was a member of [[Skull and Bones]] and won the Townsend Prize.
+He went on to Cincinnati Law School, but passed the bar after his second year and practiced law briefly at a firm with his father [[Alfonso Taft]]. Knowing he preferred education, he returned to Yale to tutor Latin.
 In 1890 he opened a college preparatory school for boys in [[Pelham Manor, New York]].
-On 29 June 1892 he married Winifred Shepard Thompson at [[Niagara Falls, New York]]. There were no children of the marriage.
+On 29 June 1892 he married Winifred Shepard Thompson, an art teacher at a New Haven high school. She died of cancer in 1909. There were no children of the marriage.
-In 1893 he opened a school in the Warren House at Watertown, Connecticut, adopting the name The Taft School in 1898. Many of the school's alumni went on to attend Yale.
+In 1893 he moved his school to Watertown, Connecticut, purchasing the Warren House, a Civil War-era hotel, and adopting the name The Taft School in 1898.
-Taft retired as headmaster in 1936.
+Taft retired as headmaster in 1936 but continued to teach a course in Civics until his death.
 ==References==