Remembrances of Absalom Taft

Back in 1991 I thought it would be neat to ask my great aunts and uncles what they remembered about their grandfather, Absalom Taft. They great aunts and uncles were thrilled to write what they remembered. This is from them...

Howard Taft (Grandpa Taft's brother) wrote:

dated 7-23-91

Dear Felice,

Received your letter and was glad to hear from you. I will try to ans. it with what little I remember of grandfather. When I was a kid going to school we always stopped in to see them, my grandmother all ways made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and I just loved them so I would always eat with them. She made to batter in the fall and used out of it all winter, each day adding a little new to it and kept it sitting on the warming oven of the stove.

He always had comb honey on hand and I loved it. He had an old phonegaraph that played clinder records and I alway liked to play it and it had a horn on it that the sound came from. He had a lawn swing and was always sitting in it and we would have to sit and talk a while with him and eat cookies with him.

He had a big grape vineyard and we could have all the grapes we wanted to eat but we couldn't pick them he had to, He also had lots of apple trees and we would pick some to eat on the way home. He was a big man and had a long white beard.

He was still alive when I first got married but I didn't get to see him so much as when I was younger as he only lived about 1/2 mile from us. This is about all I can remember.

With love

Great uncle Howard

Agnes Taft (Grandpa Taft's sister) wrote:

Dear Felice,

So nice to hear from you. It's a beautiful morning here. We have had very hot weather, and no rain.

You ask what I remembered about my Grandpa Taft. He has been dead a long time, but as a kid I remember him, he was a big man. I always remember he had white hair, and a long white beard. When I was little and going to school, we always had to stop and see them at night, and there was always homemade cookies for us. He had a big swing out in the yard and I remember sitting there with him. My real grandma was dead, but I had a step grandma. She was the only grandma I knew.

He had a big apple tree out back of the house, right by the old outdoor toilet, in the fall, it had big red apples, that were so good. We didn't know the name of them, so we kids always called them,

"The back house apples", nw we know they were called McIntosh. Maybe that's why they are my favorite apples, they are all good memories. But it's been so many years. I have forgotten many things about him.

Tell your folks hello, just talked to your grandma, she's same as always, don't see her very often.

Love,

Aunt Agnes

Teddi, Jenni, Robby, Holli, Joshua, Amy, Andrew, and Shea

Denise-Felice-David

Anne Taft/Arthur Virgil

Harley Taft/Hazel Copus

Ruel Benjamin Taft/Myrtle Roghers

Absalom Taft/Emeline Coleman

So Absalom is your 3rd great grandfather