Bezaleel Taft Jr. (September 8, 1780 – July 16, 1846) was an American lawyer and member of the

Taft family The Taft family is an American political family of English descent, with origins in Massachusetts. Its members have served in the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont, and the United States federal government, in variou ...

who served in the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

and the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

Biography

Bezaleel Taft Jr. was the son of Bazaleel Taft Sr. and Sarah Richardson Taft. He was a descendant of Robert Taft Sr., the first American Taft. His grandmother, Lydia Chapin Taft, was

America's First Woman Voter Lydia Taft (née Chapin; February 2, 1712November 9, 1778) was the first woman known to legally vote in colonial America. This occurred at a town meeting in the New England town of Uxbridge in Massachusetts Colony, on October 30, 1756. Early li ...

. His grandfather, Captain

Josiah Taft Josiah Taft (April 2, 1709 – September 29, 1756) was a wealthy landowner and legislator in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He performed several roles within the community and served with the Uxbridge Militia. Attaining the rank of captain, he fought d ...

, had fought in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. His father was a soldier and a Captain in the Worcester 9th Company, in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Taft graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1804. He returned to Uxbridge to practice law and became a political leader in the town. In 1807, Bezaleel Taft Sr. built a large home in Uxbridge for his son. Taft married Margaret Spring, daughter of Rev.

Samuel Spring Rev. Samuel Spring (1746–1819) was an early American Revolutionary War chaplain and Congregationalist minister. Early life and education Spring was born in Uxbridge in the Massachusetts Colony on February 27, 1746. His father was John Spring ...

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...

. They had three children. Margaret Spring Taft died on July 25, 1816. On November 30, 1817, he married her cousin, Hannah Spring. They had five children. One of his grandchildren, George S. Taft, was district attorney of

Worcester County, Massachusetts Worcester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts. Being 1,510.6 ...

. Taft served several terms in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

, was a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1825 to 1827, and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council from 1828 to 1831. Taft played an active role in the creation of the

Worcester State Hospital Worcester State Hospital was a Massachusetts state mental hospital located in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is credited to the architectural firm of Weston & Rand. The hospital and surrounding associated historic structures are listed as Worceste ...

and was the second president of the Blackstone Bank. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1820.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> Taft died on July 16, 1846 at Uxbridge, at age 65. His cause of death is listed as "Consumption" in the Uxbridge vital records.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, Bezaleel Jr Taft family 1780 births 1846 deaths Harvard College alumni People from Uxbridge, Massachusetts Politicians from Worcester County, Massachusetts Massachusetts state senators 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council