Bazaleel Taft Sr.
Bazaleel Taft Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Bezaleel Taft |
| Born | November 3, 1750 Uxbridge, Massachusetts  |
| Died | June 21, 1839 (aged 88) Uxbridge, Massachusetts |
| Allegiance | United States of America  |
| Service | Continental Army Massachusetts Militia |
| Years of service | 1775-1780 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Worcester 9th Company |
| Commands | Worcester 9th Company |
| Battles / wars | Battles of Lexington and Concord, American Revolution |
| Relations | Josiah Taft (father) Lydia Chapin Taft (mother) |
| Other work | Massachusetts state legislator Massachusetts state senate |
Bazaleel Taft Sr., his first name is also spelled Bezaleel (November 3, 1750 – June 21, 1839), was an American Revolutionary War soldier, Captain and American legislator from Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
Early life
Bazaleel Taft Sr. was born to Josiah Taft and Lydia Chapin Taft at Uxbridge on November 3, 1750.[1] He was one of eight children.[2] Taft went to school in Uxbridge and grew up in the immediate pre-Revolutionary War period in the Massachusetts colony.
In Uxbridge, Josiah was a farmer and town clerk.[2] He had been a member of the Massachusetts General Court, or legislature of the colony in 1753.[2] A captain, Josiah fought in the French and Indian Wars, and died on September 30, 1756,[2][3] two weeks after burying his son Caleb in September. Caleb was away at college when he died.[4] Taft became Josiah and Lydia's eldest surviving son.[4]
Lydia became the largest landholder in Uxbridge and based upon the principal of "no taxation without representation, she was made a voter by proxy,[4][5][6] America's first woman voter.[4][a] On October 30, 1756, an important open town meeting was held to decide whether to support the French and Indian War effort.[4][5] Her vote settled what would otherwise have been a tie. The town would provide financial support for the war.[5][6] Lydia died November 22, 1766.[7]
Military service
Taft fought in the American Revolutionary War.[8] He mustered in to Captain Samuel Read's Company in Uxbridge on April 19, 1775 as a sergeant. That day, he marched in the Lexington Alarm.[9] Taft held the rank of captain.
Family and house
Taft was first married to Abigail Taft, and they had a daughter Eunice, born January 28, 1775,[10] who married Deacon Phinehas Chapin.[11] Abigail died on August 12, 1775.[12]
Taft next married Sarah Richardson on January 2, 1777,[13] and they had a son, Bezaleel Taft, Jr (1780-1846) was a lawyer and legislator.[11] He had a daughter Chloe, born March 10, 1793,[1] who married Joseph Thayer, Esq.[11] They lived in the Hon. Bazaleel Taft House that her father built.[14] Chloe was the mother Henry Chapin's two wives. Taft and Sarah had children who died young, at least one other son and one daughter.[8] Sarah died on April 27, 1809.[15]
The Hon. Bazaleel Taft House, built in 1794, is a Georgian architectural style house, that is today a restaurant south of Uxbridge center.[16] A Hessian sword was embedded in the wall of this home, as partial evidence that British Hessian forces, once passed through the historic Blackstone River Valley during the American Revolutionary War.[17]
Taft descended from Robert Taft Sr. (1640 or before – February 8, 1725) of Braintree, Massachusetts, his great grandfather of the Taft family.[11] Robert Taft Sr. established his family in Mendon, in what later became the town of Uxbridge, where he built a fort. Robert was a carpenter and a farmer.[11] The Taft family is a dynasty in American politics in a number of states, throughout the USA, but especially in Ohio.[citation needed] William Howard Taft, President of the United States, was from this same family.[4]
Legislative career
Taft was a loyal federalist.[8] Taft followed his father's footsteps and was elected to the Massachusetts General Court after the United States gained its independence from Great Britain.
Taft served in the state legislature as a representative and in the senate for over 30 years.[11] His son, Bezaleel Taft Jr, would also serve in the Massachusetts General Court, and in the state Senate.[11] He also served on various state commissions, Boards and the executive council.
Congregational Church
Taft became the first church moderator of the First Congregational Society when it was established in 1797.[9]
Death
Hon. Bazaleel Taft Sr. died at the age of 89 on June 21, 1839, at Uxbridge.[18]
References
- ^ a b Baldwin 1916, p. 150.
- ^ a b c d Schutz, John A. (1997). Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court, 1691-1780: A Biographical Dictionary. UPNE. pp. 79, 353. ISBN 978-1-55553-304-5.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 406.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chuss, Linda (March 14, 2023). "Mendon's Lydia Taft: America's first female voter or was she?". Milford Free Press. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c Chapin, Henry (1881). Address delivered at the Unitarian church, in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1864. Worcester, Massachusetts: Press of C. Hamilton.
- ^ a b Sprague, p. 20.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 407.
- ^ a b c Leonard, Lewis Alexander (1920). "Life of Alphonso Taft". Hawke publishing Company (incorporated). pp. 241, 261–263. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Sprague 1927, p. 23.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 152.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Taft Family". Worcester Daily Spy. Worcester, Massachusetts. August 13, 1874. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via National Endowment for the Humanities.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 403.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 313.
- ^ Sprague 1927, p. 45.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 409.
- ^ "Uxbridge Walking Tour". Blackstone Daily. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Bazeley House - Cricket on the Hearth". The Boston Globe. April 25, 1969. p. 19. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
- ^ Baldwin 1916, p. 404.
Bibliography
- Baldwin, Thomas W. (Thomas Williams) (1916). Vital records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: Wright & Potter printing company. pp. 150, 404.
- Sprague, Beatrice Putam, ed. (1927). Uxbridge year by year, 1727-1927. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: E.L. Freeman.
External links
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