Willard M. Thayer (1830-1864) and Esther R. Miller (1833-1917) were married in 1854, in Warren, Vt. They had three children: Herbert E. (b. 1856), Willard Philander (1859-1941), and Ida Elizabeth (1861-1954). Willard Thayer enlisted in Co. B of the 10th Regiment of Vermont Volunteers on August 19, 1862, and died in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 23, 1864. Esther Thayer married Orvis Whitcomb on April 15, 1866, in Warren; they had one daughter, Hattie Esther.
Esther's brother James E. Miller (b. 1833) enlisted June 10, 1863, in Co. L of the 11th Regiment of Vermont Volunteers and died in Annapolis, Md., on Feb. 16, 1865. Andrew J. Butler of Reading, Vt., who was Esther Thayer's brother-in-law enlisted Dec. 19, 1863, in Co. H, 6th Regiment of Vermont Volunteers and was discharged June 26, 1865. He died in Reading, Vt, on March 20, 1887.
From the description of Esther M. Thayer correspondence, 1862-1865. (Vermont Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 36056848
