Peter Rawson Taft
Peter Rawson Taft (April 14, 1785 – January 1, 1867) was President William Howard Taft's paternal grandfather.
Early life and family
Peter was born to Aaron Taft and Rhoda Rawson on April 14, 1785 at Uxbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Aaron Taft House in Uxbridge is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Aaron was a farmer, first in Uxbridge and then later in Townshend, Vermont. Aaron Taft, Peter Rawson Taft's father (1743–1808), in turn, was the son of Peter Taft. Peter was the grandson of Robert Taft, Sr (1640-1725), the first Taft who immigrated to America and settled at Mendon and Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Peter Rawson Taft was then the 5th generation descendent of the first Taft in America, Robert Taft, Sr. Uxbridge and Mendon were the birthplace of the famous American Taft family. Rhoda Rawson, the mother of Peter Rawson Taft, was a descendant of Edward Rawson, who came from England to New England in 1636, and was for thirty-five years secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Aaron Taft, the father of Peter Rawson Taft, was educated at Princeton College. Meeting with severe losses in Massachusetts, he took his family to Vermont around 1800, when Peter Rawson Taft was about 15 years of age. Peter Rawson Taft was reared a farmer, with a common-school education in Uxbridge and Townshend. A Taft family story tells of Peter Rawson Taft leading a cow all the way from Uxbridge to Townshend, Vermont when the family moved.
Peter Rawson
Peter Walter Edward Rawson (born 25 May 1957 in Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer. He played ten ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1987.
An opening bowler and useful lower-order batsman, Rawson represented Zimbabwe at the 1983 and 1987 Cricket World Cups. In 1983 he took early wickets in the matches against India and West Indies that in each case briefly put Zimbabwe in a strong position.
In 1984 he played for Rishton in the Lancashire League, taking 102 wickets at 14.08 and scoring 539 runs at 22.46, and he also played Minor Counties cricket for Suffolk.
He left Zimbabwe in 1989 and played the rest of his career with Natal in South Africa, retiring after the 1994-95 season.
His highest first-class score was 95 for Natal against Transvaal in 1989-90. His best innings bowling figures were 7 for 30 for Zimbabwe against the touring Lancashire team in 1988-89, and his best match figures were 13 for 143 (7 for 55 and 6 for 88) for Zimbabwe against Young Australia in 1982-83. In 1983-84, he helped Zimbabwe to a two-wicket victory over Young India by bowling unchanged throughout the match and taking 4 for 70 and 7 for 49.
