John M. Thayer

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John Milton Thayer

John Milton Thayer (born January 24, 1820 in Bellingham , Norfolk County , Massachusetts , † March 19, 1906 in Lincoln , Nebraska ) was an American politician and between 1887 and 1892 the seventh governor of the state of Nebraska. Previously, he was Governor of the Wyoming Territory and US Senator for Nebraska.

Early years

John Thayer was born in Bellingham on January 24, 1820, to Elias and Ruth Staples Thayer. He first attended the local schools in his home country and then studied law until 1841 at Brown University in Providence , Rhode Island . In addition to his subsequent practice as a lawyer, he was also the editor of Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal . From 1842 he was able to gain his first military experience when he joined the local light infantry . He married his wife Mary Torrey Allen († 1892) on December 17, 1842. In 1854 he moved with his family to Omaha in what was then the Nebraska Territory .

Political and military advancement

Thayer ran a farm near Omaha and became a member of the State Board of Agriculture , a committee that campaigned for the interests of agriculture. At the same time he joined the Republican Party and helped set up the national association in Nebraska.

Indian Wars

As early as 1855, as a member of the militia , Thayer held the first meeting with the Pawnee Indians on territory with Origen D. Richardson . These had drawn the wrath of the settlers near Fontanelle , because they should have hunted and killed their cattle. Thayer negotiated with the Pawnee chief Petalesharu and the peace was maintained until 1859. Then Pawnee, who had agreed in the Table Creek Treaty to give up their land and move to the Loup Valley, hunted the settlers' cattle again. In one skirmish, one of the settlers was wounded and four Indians killed. Once again, the troops coming from Omaha under the leadership of Thayer, together with soldiers from Fremont , Fontanelle and Columbus , managed to settle the dispute without further fighting and to clear up the misunderstandings. Subsequently, the Indians were resettled in their new settlement area, which is near what is now Genoa .

Civil war

In 1860 he was elected to the territorial parliament, but resigned his mandate in 1861 to actively fight in the civil war . He set up a regiment of 1,000 men with soldiers from Nebraska (1st Nebraska Infantry), which he himself commanded as a Colonel . He also fought for Fort Donelson and Shiloh and was promoted to brigadier general on October 4, 1862 . As such, the First Division of the XV. Corps of the Union Army during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. As a result, he was the cavalry to Fort Smith , Arkansas , and towards the end of the war, according to St. Charles , drafted, Arkansas before him in 1865 after the war, the brevet of major general gave .

US Senator

After the war was over, Thayer devoted himself more to political tasks. In 1866, Thayer was a member of the Nebraska Constituent Assembly and, in 1867, became one of the first two US Senators from the newly created state alongside Thomas Tipton . His tenure lasted until 1871, when he was replaced as Senator by Algernon Sidney Paddock .

Governor of the Wyoming Territory

In 1875 he was named Territory Governor of Wyoming by President Ulysses S. Grant . He held this office between March 1, 1875 and May 29, 1878. Thayer came under fire when he sided with the former in the conflict between the territorial and federal governments : After the federal government appointed a judge in Wyoming, he was assigned administrative districts without residents due to lack of popularity. Thayer had signed this application and eventually had to give up his office prematurely to John Wesley Hoyt . Thayer rejected a candidacy as a Republican candidate for Congress Wyoming in the same year and returned to Nebraska, where he resumed his profession as a lawyer. In 1886 he was elected as the Republican Party candidate for the new governor of Nebraska. With 55.2 percent of the vote, he prevailed against the Democrat James E. North.

Governor of Nebraska

John Thayer's tenure began on January 6, 1887. During his five-year tenure, the consequences of a great drought were overcome and laws were passed to control the railway companies. In 1888, Thayer was confirmed in office for another two years. The next election in 1890 was controversial. The actual election winner was the Democrat James E. Boyd . However, Boyd, who was an Irish voter, was initially deemed not to be eligible because his nationality was unclear. Thayer therefore challenged the election and the Nebraska Supreme Court had to decide the case. Until the decision is made, Thayer should remain in office. After the court ruled in Boyd's favor, Thayer resigned on February 8, 1892. With that he had completed over half of Boyd's actual tenure.

Another résumé

After the end of his time as governor, Thayer withdrew into private life. But he continued to work as a lawyer. John Thayer died on March 19, 1906 at the age of 86. He was married to Mary Torrey Allen, with whom he had six children. His nephew Arthur Laban Bates (1859-1934) was a member of Congress for the state of Pennsylvania . The village of Thayer and Thayer County in Nebraska are named after Thayer .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wyoming Biography Database  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www-lib.uwyo.edu  
  2. ^ AT Andreas: Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska , 1882, online
  3. ^ Indian Troubles in Nebraska - History of the Pawnee War , in: New York Times, July 20, 1859
  4. ↑ Nicholas J. Aieta: Frontier Settlement and Community Development in Richardson, Burt, and Platte Counties, Nebraska, 1854-1870 , 2007, dissertation at the University of Nebraska (PDF; 1.25 MB)
  5. ^ Addison Erwin Sheldon: History and Stories of Nebraska
  6. ↑ Report by General Lewis Wallace
  7. ^ Report by Colonel John Milton Thayer
  8. ^ The Newest State , in: New York Times, July 12, 1866
  9. ^ Hon. AS Paddock elected to the United States Senate , New York Times, January 25, 1875
  10. ^ Nominations and Confirmations , in: New York Times, February 11, 1875
  11. ^ The Territory of Wyoming. The Removal of Gov. Thayer and Appointment of Prof. Hoyt - The Reason , in: New York Times, March 18, 1878
  12. ^ Political Notes , in: New York Times, October 16, 1878
  13. ↑ Gov. Boyd Oussted From Office , in: New York Times, May 6, 1891
  14. ↑ Thayer Gives up the Fight. He Will Turn Over the Nebraska Governorship to Boyd to-day , in: New York Times, February 8, 1892
  15. ^ Death of Gen. Thayer , in: New York Times, March 20, 1906
personal data
SURNAME Thayer, John M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thayer, John Milton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Bellingham , Norfolk County , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1906
Place of death Lincoln , Nebraska