Louisa Maria "Louise" Torrey (September 11, 1827 – December 8, 1907) was the second wife of

Alphonso Taft Alphonso Taft (November 5, 1810 – May 21, 1891) was an American jurist, diplomat, politician, United States Attorney General, Attorney General and United States Secretary of War, Secretary of War under President of the United States, President U ...

, and the mother of U.S. President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

Background

She was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, the first daughter of Samuel Davenport Torrey (1789–1877) and his second wife, the former Susan Holman Waters (1803–1866). Her three sisters were Delia Chapin Torrey, Anna Davenport Torrey (who married geologist

Edward Orton, Sr. Edward Francis Baxter Orton Sr. (March 9, 1829 – October 16, 1899) was a United States geologist, and the first president of The Ohio State University. Biography Orton came from New York State, born in the town of Deposit in Delaware County a ...

), and Susan H. Torrey. She graduated from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

(then ''Mount Holyoke Female Seminary'') in 1845. From 1846 to 1858, she intermittently published ''The Yale Gallinipper,'' a "scathingly satirical" Yale newspaper with Olivia Day (daughter of

Jeremiah Day Jeremiah Day (August 3, 1773 – August 22, 1867) was an American academic, a Congregational minister and President of Yale College (1817–1846). Early life Day was the son of Rev. Jeremiah and Abigail (Noble) Osborn Day, who were descendant ...

) and Henrietta Blake (descendant of

Eli Whitney Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Although Whitney hi ...

). The three women wrote anonymously, pretending to be "three brothers" who were undergraduates at Yale. They were known for their hard-hitting criticisms of the students, faculty, and the

Yale Literary Magazine The ''Yale Literary Magazine'', founded in 1836, is the oldest student literary magazine in the United States and publishes poetry, fiction, and visual art by Yale undergraduates twice per academic year. Notable alumni featured in the magazine whi ...

Marriage and family life

She married

, widowed in 1852, on December 26, 1853 in

Millbury, Massachusetts Millbury, officially the Town of Millbury, is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Located within Blackstone Valley, the population in Millbury was 13,831 at the 2020 United States Census. History Millbury was first settled by Europeans ...

, becoming stepmother to his two living sons by his first wife, Fanny Phelps,

Charles Phelps Taft Charles Phelps Taft (December 21, 1843 – December 31, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician who served as editor of the ''Cincinnati Times-Star'' and owned both the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs baseball teams. From 1895 to 189 ...

, who became the publisher of the ''

Cincinnati Times-Star ''The Cincinnati Times-Star'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1880 to 1958. The Northern Kentucky edition was known as ''The Kentucky Times-Star'', and a Sunday edition was known as ''The Sunday Times-St ...

'' and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897, and Peter Rawson "Rossy" Taft. They had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood. The first, who died aged 14 months of pertussis, was Samuel Davenport Torrey Taft. The second was President William Howard Taft; next was Henry Waters Taft, who became a lawyer in New York City; fourth was

Horace Dutton Taft Horace Dutton Taft (December 28, 1861 – January 28, 1943) was an American educator, and the founder of The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. Early life He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the younger brother of William Howa ...

, founder of the

Taft School The Taft School is a private, coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It teaches students in 9th through 12th grades and post-graduates. About three-quarters of Taft's roughly 600 students live on the school's ...

Watertown, Connecticut Watertown is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 22,105 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The ZIP codes for Watertown are 06795 (for most of the ...

, and the last was Frances Louis "Fanny" Taft, who married surgeon William A. Edwards. The family lived in Cincinnati during her husband's tenure as judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. Then in

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

when he served successively as

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Also, in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

when he served as U.S. ambassador to each country.

Death

Louise Taft died at

, aged 80 years, and was interred at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

in Cincinnati, Ohio. Less than one year later, her eldest surviving son was elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

References

*Gary Boyd Roberts, ''Ancestors of American Presidents'', First Authoritative Edition, 1995, p. 60. *Ishbel Ross, ''An American Family: The Tafts 1678 to 1964'', World Publishing Co., Cleveland, 1964.

External links

Louisa Torrey Hall, Mount Holyoke College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, Louise 1827 births 1907 deaths People from Millbury, Massachusetts Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Mothers of presidents of the United States Mount Holyoke College alumni People from Cincinnati Taft family