Taft drew large Cadiz crowd during 1908 campaign stop

A photograph from the Harrison County Historical Society shows William Howard Taft visiting Cadiz in 1908 during his campaign for president. The scene, taken on West Market Street in front of the courthouse, was described in a Sept. 1, 1988, “A Look at the Past” column in the Harrison News-Herald.

Taft arrived on the Cadiz Branch rail line, with the larger-than-usual engine struggling on the trip because it was heavier and wider than the standard locomotive and spread the track over the seven-mile route. From the station, Taft was taken to the courthouse in a cavalcade of three automobiles, where a large crowd waited. Although women could not vote at the time, they made up at least half of the audience.

Speaking from a rostrum built in the middle of Market Street, Taft advocated for a strong protective tariff, a position that pleased local wool growers. His driver was Emerson Long of Cadiz, whose firm had completed construction of the courthouse more than a decade earlier.

Taft, born in Cincinnati in 1857, served as the 27th president of the United States from March 1909 to March 1913 and later as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the only person to have held both offices.

The photo shows Taft standing at the center of the platform.