Robert Taft Sr.

Braintree Robert Taft Sr. was born about 1640. He immigrated from England, Scotland, or Ireland, to the American colonies after the King Philip's War (1675–1676). Matthew Taft, who later settled in the colonies, is reportedly Taft's brother or another family member. Matthew Taft came to the colonies from Ireland in 1728 and settled in what is now Upton, Massachusetts. Taft was married to Sarah In 1729, they built another bridge. Taft died on February 8, 1725. Sarah died in November 1725. ==Marriage and children==

Taft and his wife Sarah (née Simpson) had five children: • Thomas Taft, born 1671, in the "old country", and married Deborah Genery, a daughter of Isaac of Dedham. They had eleven children. • Robert Taft Jr., born 1674, married Elizabeth Woodard. He and his wife had eleven children. • Daniel Taft, born 1677, in England or Braintree, married Hannah (maiden name unknown) and Lydia Chapin, daughter of Captain Josiah Chapin. Daniel was a farmer, lawyer, town treasurer, justice of the peace, colonial legislator, and a leading citizen. • Joseph Taft, born 1680, married Elizabeth Emerson and they had nine children. • Benjamin Taft, 1684, married Sarah Thomas Taft purchased sufficient adjoining land, said to be two and a half square miles, so that his sons and their families had ample portions of the Taft homestead. Some of the land extended into what is now the town of Sutton. ==Descendants==

Robert Taft's descendants are a large politically active family with descendants who are prominent in Ohio, but live throughout the United States. A descendant of Robert Taft Sr., William Howard Taft, became the President of the United States, and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Robert Taft Sr.'s grandson Josiah Taft died prematurely, at the age of 47, and his widow, Lydia Taft, became America's first woman voter in 1756. ==Notes==