27th President. Autograph note signed “Wm. H. Taft” on small 2×3 calling card imprinted “The Secretary of War”, addressed “To Col. Randsell / Sergeant of Arms of Senate”, being Dan M. Ransdell who was the Sergeant-at-Arms of the United States Senate, in full:
This will introduce to you my brother and his wife Mr. & Mrs. Horace D Taft of Watertown Conn and my boy Robert. Will you be good enough to secure them good seats in the gallery both of Senate & House.
William Howard Taft’s inauguration on March 4, 1909 was held indoors, inside the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, because a severe blizzard made the traditional outdoor ceremony on the Capitol steps impossible. He left office as Secretary of War at the end of June 1908 so this note might have been for a regular visit of his family to see him in DC but it also could have been for his Inauguration and he used a leftover calling card.
Dating this note is also helped because Horace D. Taft’s wife - Winifred Shepard Thompson - died of cancer in late 1909. He did not remarry. It is not known if Horace attended the Inauguration ceremonies - he was an educator and founder of The Taft School in Watertown, CT where President Taft’s son Charles attended - and he excused Charles’ absence to go to DC for his father’s Inauguration. Robert Taft would later become a prominent U.S. Senator from Ohio known as "Mr. Republican".
Daniel Moore Ransdell took his oath of office as the Sergeant of Arms of the US Senate on February 1, 1900 - the fourteenth person to hold that post. He is remembered for his effectiveness in handling congressional arrangements for the inaugurations of Republican Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. A severe snow storm complicated his duties for Taft’s 1909 swearing-in, with a last-minute decision to conduct the oath-taking in the Senate chamber for the only time in that room’s history.
Two file holes at bottom right side, just touching the start of Taft’s last name in signature. Some age toning.
27th President. Autograph note signed “Wm. H. Taft” on small 2×3 calling card imprinted “The Secretary of War”, addressed “To Col. Randsell / Sergeant of Arms of Senate”, being Dan M. Ransdell who was the Sergeant-at-Arms of the United States Senate, in full:
This will introduce to you my brother and his wife Mr. & Mrs. Horace D Taft of Watertown Conn and my boy Robert. Will you be good enough to secure them good seats in the gallery both of Senate & House.
William Howard Taft’s inauguration on March 4, 1909 was held indoors, inside the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, because a severe blizzard made the traditional outdoor ceremony on the Capitol steps impossible. He left office as Secretary of War at the end of June 1908 so this note might have been for a regular visit of his family to see him in DC but it also could have been for his Inauguration and he used a leftover calling card.
Dating this note is also helped because Horace D. Taft’s wife - Winifred Shepard Thompson - died of cancer in late 1909. He did not remarry. It is not known if Horace attended the Inauguration ceremonies - he was an educator and founder of The Taft School in Watertown, CT where President Taft’s son Charles attended - and he excused Charles’ absence to go to DC for his father’s Inauguration. Robert Taft would later become a prominent U.S. Senator from Ohio known as "Mr. Republican".
Daniel Moore Ransdell took his oath of office as the Sergeant of Arms of the US Senate on February 1, 1900 - the fourteenth person to hold that post. He is remembered for his effectiveness in handling congressional arrangements for the inaugurations of Republican Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. A severe snow storm complicated his duties for Taft’s 1909 swearing-in, with a last-minute decision to conduct the oath-taking in the Senate chamber for the only time in that room’s history.
Two file holes at bottom right side, just touching the start of Taft’s last name in signature. Some age toning.
