The Thayer Family BY E. D. CLEMENTS, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND HE family name Tayer, Thayer, Theyer, etc., according to evidence from English parish registers, is a variation of tawyer, a dresser of leather. Ralph le Tayere is on the Hundred Rolls of Wiltshire, A. D. 1273. The arms previously blazoned are those recorded by Matthews for Thayer families in this country. The Thayer coat-of-arms is as follows: Arms-Per pale ermine and gules, three talbots' heads erased counterchanged. Motto-Foecundi calices. (I) Thomas Thayer or Tayer was born in Gloucestershire in 1596, and became a shoemaker. He was in Boston, Massachusetts, before February 24, 1639-40, when land was granted to him at Mt. Wollaston, New Braintree, for "9 heads" in his family: and Richard, thought to be his younger brother, arrived in Braintree a widower with eight children. No coat-of-arms appears on any tablet or monument of the Thornbury Thayers; and Edward, of Thornbury Parish, was disclaimed at the Visitation of 1623 for bearing arms. Thomas Thayer, according to Braintree records, "dyed 2d of 4th month, 1665"; new style June 2, 1665. His wife's death record is: "Margery Thayer dyed 11d 12 mo. 1672"; new style, February 11, 1673. Probably two daughters, among "D heads." Children, born in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England: 1. Thomas, Jr., died August 9, 1663, aged above seventy. Wife Anne, probably married in England, and had eight children. 2. Ferdinando, of whom further. 3. Sidrach (Shadrach), died October 19, 1678. He married (first), January 1, 1654-55, Mary Barrett; married (second), Deliverance Priest. They had nine child ren. (II) Ferdinando Thayer, son of Thomas and Margery (Wheeler) Thayer, was born in Thornbury, England, and died in Mendon, Massachusetts, March 28, 1713. He lived in Braintree after his father's death, when he removed, with a colony from Braintree and Weymouth, to Nipmug, a new plantation, in 1662; the settlers returning to their native towns. During King Philip's War Nipmug became the town of Mendon, 1667, now in Worcester County. Ferdinando Thayer was one of the largest proprietors of the new settlement. His homestead being a little south of the present center of the town, he held many offices of honor in his town and commonwealth. He was a man of wealth in his day, and provided all his sons with farms, many of which are held by his descendants to this day, and have never changed titles for over two hundred years. He married, on January 14, 1652-53, Huldah Hayward, of Braintree, who died at Mendon, Massachusetts, September 1, 1690. (See Hayward II.) Children, first five born in Braintree: 1. Sarah, born May 12, 1654; married, in 1676, Joseph Stevens; one daughter. 2. Huldah, born June 16, 1657; married, in 1675, Jacob Aldrich. 3. Jonathan, born March 18, 1658-59; married, in 1679, Elizabeth French. 4. David, born June 20, 1660, died August 1, 1674. 5. Naomi, born January 28, 1662-63. 6. Thomas, born in Mendon, died there May 1, 1738; married, in 1688, Mary Adams. 7. Samuel, born in Mendon, died there after 1710; married Mary 8. Isaac, born in Mendon, died there after 1710; married (first) Mercy ; (second) Mary 9. Josiah, born in Mendon. 10. Ebenezer, born in Mendon. 11. Benjamin, of whom further. 12. David, baptized in Braintree, September 17, 1677, died August 29, 1678. (III) Benjamin Thayer, son of Ferdinando and Huldah (Hayward) Thayer, born at Mendon, Massachusetts, and died in Mendon, in 1729. He married (first), September 15, 1699, Sarah Hayward, who died December 18, 1711. He married (second), 1712, Hannah Hayward. Children, born in Mendon, Massachusetts: 1. Rachel, born in the year 1700; married, December 15, 1720, Eleazer Taft. 2. Margaret, born December 17, 1701; married, December 15, 1720, Jonathan Wood. 3. Grace, born May 6, 1704; married, October 8, 1723, James Wood. 4. Sarah, born March 23, 1706; married, April 21, 1726, John Hayward. 5. Benjamin, born September 23, 1707, died February 23, 1708. 6. Lydia, born April 24, 1709; married, January 4, 1729, John Gage. Children by second marriage: 7. Benjamin, born July 13, 1713, died July 7, 1739; married, in 1734, Silence Sumner. 8. Aaron, of whom further. (IV) Aaron Thayer, son of Benjamin and Hannah (Hayward) Thayer, born at Mendon, Massachusetts, November 11, 1715, and died at Mendon, after 1775. He married, in 1738, Jemima Cook. Children, born in Mendon, Massachusetts: 1. Hannah, born March 12, 1739; married, in 1757, Pelatiah Thayer. 2. Elizabeth, born October 29, 1740; married, May 13, 1771, Wilder Keith. 3. Jemima, born September 14, 1742; married, in 1764, Timothy Adams. 4. Benjamin, of whom further. 5. Susannah, born April 23, 1746; married, in 1768, Ralph Hayward. 6. Rachel, born March 26, 1748; married, in 1768, Moses Thayer, Jr. 7. Joanna, born February 16, 1750; married, October 8, 1775, John Green White. 8. Urania, born August 12, 1752; married, May 27, 1771, Nicah Bates. 9. Elona, born May 19, 1754; married, April 29, 1773, Increase Daniels. 10. Lavina, born January 30, 1756, died May 19, 1758. 11. Aaron, born February 26, 1758; married, March 12, 1778, Rosina Legg. 12. Elijah, born August 12, 1760, died September 20, 1764. 13. Phebe, born August 17, 1762. (V) Benjamin Thayer, son of Aaron and Jemima (Cook) Thayer, was born in Mendon, April 16, 1744, and died in Mendon, Massachusetts, September 24, 1811. He was a member in the Third Company of the "minute-men" from Mendon in the "General Alarm" after the battle of Lexington, in 1775. He was one of the committee of sixteen men chosen to hire men for the town quota of soldiers to fill up the Continental Battalion. He served the town as constable in 1784, and again in 1786. He married (first), October 19, 1767 (intentions published July 9, 1767), Sarah Bosworth, of Bellingham; (second), in December, 1793, Ruth Alden. Children, born in Mendon, by first marriage; 1. Elijah, born August 21, 1768. 2. Caleb, of whom further. 3. Philaty, born June 7, 1772. 4. Amos, born May 7, 1774. 5. Benjamin, born July 29, 1781. 6. Sarah, born August 5, 1783. 7. Zilpha, born May 28, 1785. Children by second marriage: 8. Ruth, born October 19, 1794. 9. Cushman, born in 1795. 10. Alden, born December 27, 1796. 11. Jemima, born May 26, 1799. (VI) Caleb Thayer, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Bosworth) Thayer, was born at Mendon, Massachusetts, January 31, 1771, and died there, December 22, 1834. He was a farmer by occupation, and one of the selectmen of Mendon in 1813. In 1814 he was one of the committee appointed to consider the matter of making altera tions in the boundaries of the school districts, and he was selectman in 1815. He was also chosen one of the committee to select the poor house farm in 1822. He married, April 7, 1791, Elizabeth Thayer, of Bellingham, Massachusetts. Children, born at Mendon, Massachusetts: 1. Patia, born September 3, 1792, died March 14, 1814. 2. Julia, born September 24, 1795; married, November 14, 1819, Willard Wilson. 3. Elizabeth, born March 18, 1798; married, September 30, 1854, Calvin Lyon. 4. Elias Ellis, born June 19, 1800, died September 9, 1831. 5. Caleb, Jr., of whom further. (VII) Caleb Thayer, Jr., son of Caleb and Elizabeth (Thayer) Thayer, was born at Mendon, January 5, 1803, and died there in 1840. He was a farmer, and was elected a member of the State Legislature, where he continued in office for seven years. He lived in that part of Mendon made in 1845, Blackstone, Massachusetts. He married, May 20, 1827, Hannah Gaskill. (See Gaskill VIII.) Children, born at Mendon, Blackstone part: 1. Adin, born December 5, 1828, judge, and for many years active in political affairs in Massachusetts; married, in 1865, Caroline Hendricks. 2. Elias Ellis, born April 21, 1832, died February 7, 1840. 3. Elizabeth, born June 11, 1836; married, in 1866, Hon. Hiram Daniels. They had children: i. Carrie. ii. Hiram T. 4. Caleb Edmund, born September 3, 1841; a graduate of Brown University, 1865; married, April 3, 1866, Semantha Cook. Served three months from Rhode Island in the Civil War; died August 28, 1868. 5. Hon. Frederick, of whom further. (VIII) Hon. Frederick Thayer, son of Caleb, Jr., and Hannah (Gaskill) Thayer, was born in the Chestnut Hill district of Blackstone, Massachusetts, December 23, 1843, and died in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, February 22, 1924. His education was begun in the public schools of his birthplace, and he later attended Wilbraham Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, also Greenwich Academy, in Greenwich, Rhode Island. For several years he taught school in Blackstone and Apponaug, and for a time was active in the wood and lumber business with his brother, Caleb Edmund, who was a member of the firm of Thayer & Taft, of Worcester. Upon the death of his brother, Mr. Thayer succeeded to his interest in the business, and the firm was soon dissolved. Thereafter, Frederick Thayer identified himself with the production of woolen textiles. He went to Millville, where he became the owner |