Talk:Taft family

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What this needs the most is the relationships, who is kin to whom and how, which are brothers and which are cousins, etc. I'm interested in all of this but don't know enough to do it myself.

Rlquall 17:18, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] relationships

I may be able to help with the relationships between members of the Taft family. The problem is the numbering system which I (perhaps others as well) find utterly confusing. E.g., why does the current governor of Ohio appear as "Robert A. Taft II", if he is in fact the third "Robert A. Taft"? (The traditional way seems to be to call the first member "Robert A. Taft I" or "Robert A. Taft sr.", the second one "Robert A. Taft II" or "Robert A. Taft jr." and the third one "Robert A. Taft III"). Why is the ambassador to Ireland "William H. Taft III" and not "William H. Taft II"? (His father was not a "William Howard Taft II", but Robert Alphonso Taft!)

Maybe we should agree on a coherent system of numbering before adding more information about the family. (I want to open this up for discussion first because changes to the numbering system would involve changes to individual articles as well). Josias Bunsen 13:27, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I can explain the Robert Taft issue. Robert Alphonso Taft I's son was Robert Taft, who was not a "Jr." or a "II," because his name is not identical to his father's (there's no "Alphonso"). He is usually referred to as "Robert Taft Jr." for the sake of convenience, but his actual name is just "Robert Taft." Robert Taft's son is "Robert Alphonso Taft II." He is the second person in the family with that name, but he's a "II" but not a "Jr." A person whose name is identical to a grandfather or an uncle is a "II."

I haven't figured out yet who William Howard Taft II was. Perhaps one of President Taft's brothers had a son who with that name but perhaps he died young or somthing. Acsenray 18:39, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Page Structure

Please could someone take a look at the layout of this page? It's a bit hard to read... Thedatastream 10:22, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

Could you be more specific? Are you referring to the indented format of the familiy tree? I put that in because earlier comments were asking for clearer indications of family relationships. The indentations show clearly what generation each person is a member of. Acsenray 15:41, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] WHT II

According to several histories of Squadron A, New York Cavalry

1) William Howard Taft II served in Squafrom A, New York Cavalry, for many years, and during WW I was an officer attached to the 51st Machine Gun Squadron, in France 2) There was also a Walbridge S. Taft, Sqn A, NYNG, who served as a training officer in WW I

Neither is the President's son

Squadron A in the Great War (New York: Squadron A Association, 1923); Squadron A, 1889-1939 (New York: Squadron A Association, 1939)