Charles Taft

Charles Phelps Taft

• School Yale University

• Born December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, OH USA
• Died December 31, 1929 in Cincinnati, OH USA

Biographical Information

The half-brother of US President William Howard Taft, Charles Taft was the owner of the Cincinnati Times-Star. He served as an Ohio Congressman from 1895 to 1897.

His first foray into baseball came late in 1904, when he and associate Charles Murphy purchased the Philadelphia Phillies from James Potter. In 1905, he financed Murphy's purchase of the Chicago Cubs and took over his shares of the Phillies. He sold the Phillies to Israel Durham in 1909 and then bought the Cubs from Murphy in 1914. In between, in late 1912, he served as interim President of the Phillies after owner Horace Fogel had been banned by other National League owners, until their sale to William Locke. Two years after acquiring them, he sold the Cubs to Charles Weeghman.

Related Sites

• Congressional Biography for Charles Taft