Letter from William Howard Taft to E. H. Marsh

On June 25, 1908, William Howard Taft, who was then serving as the U.S. Secretary of War, sent a letter to Edward H. Marsh of Sandusky, Ohio. (The typist incorrectly spelled Mr. Marsh’s surname as Marsha.) Mr. Taft was responding to the telegram that Edward H. Marsh had sent him on June 18, 1908, congratulating Taft for having been selected as the Republican candidate for President. President Theodore Roosevelt heartily endorsed William Howard Taft as the presidential candidate, though they would part ways in the years ahead. Taft easily defeated his opponent William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 Presidential election.

Helen Hansen wrote in At Home in Early Sandusky that William Howard Taft and Edward H. Marsh had been classmates in Cincinnati. During the 1908 campaign, Mr. Taft visited Sandusky to give a speech at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. While in Sandusky, Taft visited the Marsh residence at 334 East Washington Street. Mr. Marsh made a special trip to Cleveland to purchase a bed that would be large enough for his friend Mr. Taft, who is well known as having been the President with the heaviest weight.