Royal Chapin Taft (1823-1912) - Find a Grave Memorial

Rhode Island Governor. Royal Chapin Taft, Sr. was a descendant of Robert Taft, Sr., and a cousin of President of the United States William Howard Taft. He was educated at Worcester Academy, where he graduated in 1872. A Republican, he was a member of Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1880-84, then governor from 1888 to 1889. He was a member of the firm Bradford & Taft, and was president of Merchants' National Bank, president of the Boston & Providence Railroad, and a director of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. He was a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Parts of his art collection are now part of institutions such as the Rhode Island School of Design. Taft Hall at the University of Rhode Island and the Royal C. Taft Outpatient Building at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence are named after him.

Bio by: Pete Mohney