An Addendum for Presidents Day

On Monday, Gossips republished a post, originally written for Presidents Day in 2018, which recounted all the presidents that have visited Hudson over the years--before, during, or after their terms in office. The one whose visit to Hudson remained something of a mystery was William Howard Taft, our 27th president. 

In 2015, Alan Levine contacted Historic Hudson and in turn Gossips seeking information about this photograph, which is labeled "From the Rowles Collection." 

This is a detail from the photograph.

  

In a post published on Presidents Day in 2016, Gossips established that the central figure in the picture is William Howard Taft and the railroad car is his private rail car named The Mayflower. But we still didn't know when and why Taft was in Hudson.

Tonight, Rob Perry sent Gossips the link to an article that appeared in New York Almanack on December 1, 2020, that may explain the circumstance surrounding Taft's appearance in Hudson: "President Taft at Old Ticonderoga." The article reports that on July 6, 1909, Taft traveled from Grand Central Station to Albany and then on to Addison Junction station in Ticonderoga to attend the celebration at Fort Ticonderoga of the 300th anniversary of the visit of Samuel de Champlain to the region. The article recounts this about the journey:

On the way to Ticonderoga on July 6th, the President's train stopped at Poughkeepsie at 9:36 am, observed seemingly by few, other than a local newspaper reporter.

"President Taft looked ruddy with a good, strong coat of tan and was in the best of spirits," the reporter observed. "He had nothing special to say, and thought the press was keeping the public well informed as to his whereabouts and doings."

The President's train was expected to pass through Hudson at 10:40 am.

If this photograph does in fact show Taft on his way to Fort Ticonderoga on July 6, 1909, it is evidence that his train did more than simply "pass through Hudson." It clearly stopped, and Taft appears to have spoken to the assembled crowd, which was much larger than the "few, other than a local newspaper reporter" that gathered in Poughkeepsie.

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