In
1896, inventor and businessman Henry [1844-1902] bought
this 1884 mansion at 28 Hillhouse Ave., New
Haven, built by lawyer Charles Henry Farnam and
designed by J. Cleaveland Cady. He, his wife,
second-cousin Mary Frances Parmelee [1851-1918; Andrew
Yelverton, Alfred R., Samuel, Joseph, Isaac,
John, John], and their three children lived
at the time of the 1900 Census with a seamstress,
maid, cook, waitress and laundress, three of whom
were born in Sweden.
Yale University, which has owned the mansion
since 1920, houses its Department of Economics
here.
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After
voters turned him out of the White House in favor
of Woodrow Wilson in 1912, President William
Howard Taft, decided to return to Yale to teach
law and was looking for new quarters. This house
caught his eye.
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The
article at left, from the Jan. 3, 1913, edition
of the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Daily
Press spills the details. [Note: It
incorrectly states that Henry's father built the
house.] The clipping below is from the previous
day's Decatur (Ill.) Herald.
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Ultimately,
the deal fell through, and the former
president spent eight years living at
Hotel Taft, a new 12-story, 450-room
downtown hotel named in his honor. The
hotel at College and Chapel streets
closed in 1973, and reopened eight years
later as The
Taft, an apartment building. Below
is a New Haven Library photo of the house
after the 1938 hurricane.
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