Robert Taft, 2nd

Robert Taft, Jr., also known as Robert Taft, 2nd (1674–1748), was born in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; he died at age 74 at Uxbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts

Birth

Robert Taft, Jr., is an early American pioneer. He was the son of Robert Taft, Sr., the first American Taft, of the famous Taft family, and Sarah Simpson.

Early life and marriage

Robert lived the earliest part of his life at Braintree until he was age 6, when his father moved back to the western part of Mendon, Massachusetts, following the King Philip's War. This part of town later became the town of Uxbridge. Robert Taft, Jr. married Elizabeth Woodard of Braintree, Norfolk County.

Significance in history

Robert Taft, Jr., was a founder and founding Selectman on the first Board of Selectmen, of the colonial town of Uxbridge, in Worcester County, Massachusetts.^[1] The town of Uxbridge was incorporated as a separate town from Mendon in 1727. Robert Taft 2nd, was the first known elected political figure in the famous Taft family, a dynasty in American politics. Robert Taft, Jr., was a prominent citizen of Mendon and Uxbridge. He died in Uxbridge, Worcester County, in 1748. His descendants number among well-known Americans and political figures, especially among the Taft family in Ohio. Robert Taft, Jr.'s descendants include Royal Chapin Taft, Governor of Rhode Island, Ezra Taft Benson, U.S Secretary of Agriculture and thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Ezra T. Benson, Utah Territorial Legislator and LDS Church Apostle, and Kingsley Arter Taft, a U.S. Senator from Ohio, and chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court among others

Notes

• "Descendants of Robert and Sarah Taft". rootsweb. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
• Marvin, AP (1879). History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. lI. Boston, MA: CF Jewitt and Company. p. 146.