Additional Obituaries of Horace Dutton Taft, Founder of the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor

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Many in Pelham Manor drive by the two lovely homes that stand at 952 Pelhamdale Avenue and 964 Pelhamdale Avenue every day without giving either a second thought.  The two homes, however, once formed the school buildings of The Taft School for Boys founded in Pelham Manor in 1890 and, today, one of the nation's premier preparatory schools.  Today the school is located in Watertown, Connecticut.  (Interestingly, the Taft School for Boys took over the two homes from Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls who also used them as school buildings the prior year before moving the girls' school to buildings constructed on Esplanade at Boston Post Road.)

964 Pelhamdale Avenue, Once the Main School Building of

the Taft School for Boys in the Early 1890s.  Source:  Google

Maps.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

952 Pelhamdale Avenue, One of Two Adjacent Residences that Once Were

Part of The Taft School for Boys That Operated in Pelham Manor 1890 - 1893.

Photograph Taken in 2005 by the Author.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Horace Dutton Taft founded the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor. Taft was a brother of William Howard Taft who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and, in 1909, became the nation’s 27th President. 

Horace D. Taft had no training in school administration. Indeed, his only exposure to the teaching world reportedly involved tutoring Latin for three years at Yale, his alma mater. Horace Taft was, however, a friend of a prominent Pelham Manor resident – Mrs. Robert C. (Mary G. Witherbee) Black. Mrs. Black was the wife of a member of the internationally renowned jewelry firm of Black, Starr & Frost. The Blacks owned large tracts of land in Pelham Manor and had a palatial home known as “Dogwood” located almost directly across Pelhamdale Avenue from 952 and 964 Pelhamdale Avenue. The home faced the Esplanade on plots where homes located between 955 and 999 Pelhamdale Avenue stand today. 

Robert and Mary Black had two sons: R. Clifford Black, Jr. and Witherbee Black. Mrs. Black reportedly contacted family friend Horace Taft seeking a tutor for her boys. She convinced Taft to open a boarding school for boys in Pelham Manor. Mrs. Black reportedly named the new school “Mr. Taft’s School” although it quickly became known as The Taft School for Boys. 

The home that stands today at 964 Pelhamdale Avenue reportedly served as the main building for Mr. Taft’s School. According to a letter prepared in 1936 by one of the students who attended the school during its first year of operation, DeWitt Clinton Noyes, there were two homes that served as the grounds of the school when it opened in 1890 for the 1890/91 school year (see newspaper announcement of upcoming opening of the school transcribed below). The letter stated: “The main house belonged to Mrs. Robert C. Black and was directly behind her own on Pelhamdale Avenue. The second house was smaller and next door to the West.” The house that stands today “next door to the West” of 964 Pelhamdale is the home located at 952 Pelhamdale. After only three school years in Pelham Manor, Mr. Taft’s School moved to Watertown, Connecticut where it is located today. 

Another of Horace D. Taft's brothers was a New York City attorney who lived for many years in Pelham Manor. His name was Henry Waters Taft, an important early Pelham Manor resident. 

Horace Dutton Taft operated the Taft School for Boys as a for-profit boys' preparatory school for most of the years he served as its headmaster.  In 1926, Taft donated his majority ownership interest in the school to the Board of Trustees of the institution for them to run as a non-profit institution.  The Board reportedly "promptly elected him president of the board of trustees and headmaster."  He served in those roles until the late 1930s when he became headmaster emeritus.  He died on January 28, 1943 at the age of 81.  His death was reported in newspapers all over the country.

I have transcribed a few such obituaries before.  See Wed., Feb. 04, 2015:  Obituaries of Horace Dutton Taft, Founder of the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor.  Today's Historic Pelham article transcribes additional such obituaries (and a brief newspaper announcement of the planned opening of the school in 1890) immediately below.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

Horace Dutton Taft in an Undated Portrait.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"PERSONAL AND POLITICAL. . . . 

-- Mr. Horace D. Taft, son of Judge Alphonso Taft, will open a boarding and day school for boys next September at Pelham Manor, Westchester county, New York.  The announcement says that, while the object is to prepare boys for college, nothing will be sacrificed for the sake of gaining time."

Source:  PERSONAL AND POLITICAL, The Buffalo Commercial [Buffalo, NY], May 23, 1890, p. 4, col. 4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"HORACE D. TAFT SUCCUMBS AT 81
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Brother of Late President Founded Taft School
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Watertown, Conn., Jan. 28 (AP). -- Horace D. Taft, 81, brother of the late President William Howard Taft, and founder and for many years headmaster of the Taft School for Boys at Watertown, died at his home tonight.

Starting out to be a lawyer, Taft changed his mind after a year's practice.  He spent three years as Latin tutor at Yale, and then started his own school in Pelham Manor with 10 pupils.  For the rest of his life he was its headmaster.

In later years, after it moved to Watertown, it grew to be one of the leading preparatory schools of the country.  And in 1926, he gave his majority holdings to the trustees for them to run as a non-profit institution.

They promptly elected him president of the board of trustees and headmaster, a post which he relinquished several years ago to become headmaster emeritus.

Born in Cincinnati, he was the son of Alphonso Taft, judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, who served in several administrations as the Secretary of War, as Attorney General and as U.S. Minister to Austria and Russia."

Source:  HORACE D. TAFT SUCCUMBS AT 81 -- Brother of Late President Founded Taft School, The Wilkes-Barre Record [Wilkes-Barre, PA], Jan. 29, 1943, p. 6, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Horace D. Taft Died.

WATERTOWN, Conn., Jan. 28 (AP) -- Horace D. Taft, 81, brother of the late President William Howard Taft, and founder and for many years headmaster of the Taft School for Boys at Watertown, died at his home tonight.

Starting out to be a lawyer, Taft changed his mind after a year's practice.  He spent three years as Latin tutor at Yale, and then started on his own school in Pelham Manor with ten pupils.  For the rest of the his life he was its headmaster.

In later years, after it moved to Watertown, it grew to be one of the leading preparatory schools of the country.  And in 1926, he gave his majority holdings to the trustees for them to run as a non-profit institution."

Source:  Horace D. Taft Died, Standard Sentinel [Hazleton, PA], Jan. 29, 1943, Vol. 77, No. 23,670, p. 1, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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I have written on numerous occasions about the Taft School for Boys as well as Horace Dutton Taft and his brother, Henry Waters Taft, who lived in Pelham Manor.  For a few examples, see:  

Mon., Apr. 24, 2017:  More on the World Famous Taft School for Boys that Began in Pelham Manor in 1890.

Wed., Feb. 04, 2015:  Obituaries of Horace Dutton Taft, Founder of the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Jan. 15, 2007:  Brief Biographies of Henry Waters Taft and Horace Dutton Taft of Pelham Manor (and Other Family Members).

Tue., May 30, 2006:  A Biography Published in 1906 on the Life of Horace Dutton Taft, Founder of the Taft School for Boys in Pelham Manor.

Wed., Nov. 14, 2007:  1890 Advertisement for Taft's School for Boys in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Aug. 15, 2005:  952 Pelhamdale Served as a 19th Century School for Girls, Then a School for Boys.

Bell, Blake A., The Taft School in Pelham Manor, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 23, Jun. 4, 2004, p. 12, col. 1.

Fri., Mar. 14, 2014:  “Life and Practice" of a Country Lawyer Living in Pelham Manor in the 1880s.

Tue., Feb. 14, 2006:  An Account of the Blizzard of 1888 by Pelham Manor Resident Henry W. Taft.

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