Taft Family - America's First Woman Voter and Her Descendants

America's First Woman Voter and Her Descendants

• Lydia Chapin Taft; Noteworthy among early Uxbridge residents was Lydia Chapin Taft, a Mendon native by birth, who voted in three official Uxbridge town meetings, beginning in 1756. She was the widow of Robert Taft Sr's grandson, Josiah Taft, who had served in the Colonial Legislature. Josiah was the son of Daniel Taft of Mendon. Taft was America's First Woman Voter. This is recognized by the Massachusetts legislature. Her first historic vote, a first in Women's suffrage, was in favor of appropriating funds for the regiments engaged in the French and Indian War.
• Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Sr., Lydia's son, held the rank of Captain in the American Revolution, and answered the Battle of Lexington and Concord Alarm on April 18, 1775, while Lydia looked on. He went on to become a prominent Massachusetts legislator, and State Senator. At least 12 soldiers with the surname of Taft served in the Revolutionary War from the town of Uxbridge. Many more Tafts from throughout the former colonies also served in the War of Independence.
• Hon. Bezaleel Taft, Jr, the son, followed a legislative career in the Massachusetts General Court, the state Senate, and the State Executive Council.
• Elmshade- Bezaleel Taft, Jr, and five generations of influential Taft's lived in a historic home known as Elmshade which was a gathering place for Taft family reunions, and which is now on the National Historic Register. Young William Howard Taft and his father, Alphonso Taft, Secretary of War and founder of Skull and Bones at Yale, visited this home on a number of occasions.
• George Spring Taft, Bezaleel Jr's son, was the county prosecutor, and Secretary to U.S. Senator, George Hoar. George Spring Taft also lived at Elmshade.
• The tradition of public service continued for at least five generations in this Massachusetts branch of the Taft family. The "Life of Alphonso Taft by Lewis Alexander Leonard", on Google Books, is a particularly rich source of the history of the Taft family origins in Massachusetts.

• Other local Tafts Other local Tafts in political service in the Massachusetts legislature included Arthur M. Taft, Arthur Robert Taft, and Zadok Arnold Taft. Royal Chapin Taft, originally from Northbridge, became the Governor of Rhode Island. The number of Tafts in public service across American was extraordinary including New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, Utah, and other states.