Thayer

The Thayers were a prominent Philadelphia-area family at the turn of the 20th century. John Borland Thayer, born April 21, 1862, was the Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He and his wife, Marian Longstreth Morris Thayer, lived in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and were the parents of Margaret, Pauline, Frederick and John, Jr.

The Thayers’ were traveling home to Haverford from Berlin as first class passengers on the Titanic . John Borland Thayer did not seek a lifeboat and died on April 15, 1912 at the age of 49. His wife, Marian Longstreth Morris Thayer (1872-1944), and their maid, Miss Margaret Fleming, boarded a lifeboat and survived the sinking. John Borland Thayer, Jr. (1894-1945), the son of John and Marian Thayer, was seventeen in 1912. He did not board a lifeboat and jumped from the sinking Titanic . He climbed on an overturned inflatable lifeboat and was eventually picked up by another lifeboat. He and his mother were reunited aboard the Carpathia .

John Borland Thayer, Jr. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to the university to serve as the Financial Vice-President and Treasurer. He married Lois Cassatt and was the father of two sons, Edward C. and John B. Thayer, IV. His mother never remarried.

The sinking of the Titanic was not forgotten: he wrote about his experiences in The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic, April 14-15, 1912 . John Borland Thayer, Jr. committed suicide in 1945, following the death of his mother in 1944 and the death of his son Edward who was serving in World War II.

For further information about the Thayer family and their experiences aboard the Titanic, see The Sinking of the S. S. Titanic by John B. Thayer [III] and A Night to Remember by Walter Lord.

From the guide to the Thayer family collection, 1892-1986, (Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library)