Harry Bates Thayer
Harry Bates Thayer (August 17, 1858 – September 3, 1936), was an American electrical and telephone businessman.
Harry Bates Thayer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 5th President of American Telephone & Telegraph | |
| In office 1919–1925 | |
| Preceded by | Theodore Newton Vail |
| Succeeded by | Walter Sherman Gifford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 17, 1858 Northfield, Vermont |
| Died | September 3, 1936 (aged 78) New Canaan, Connecticut |
| Spouse(s) | Carrie Motte Ransom
(m. 1887; died 1916) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Norwich University |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Signature |  |
Early life
Thayer was born on August 17, 1858 in Northfield, Vermont. He was a son of James Carey Barroll Thayer (1824–1897) and Martha Jane (née Pratt) Thayer (1824–1869),[1] a daughter of John A. and Sarah Pratt. His father, a son of Samuel White Thayer and Ruth (née Packard) Thayer,[2] owned a clothing store and was a founder of Northfield Savings Bank.[3]
He was a descendant of Alden Thayer, Governor Brewster, and other early New England settlors.[1]
He was educated at Northfield High School in Northfield, Vermont. He then attended Norwich University (the Military College of Vermont) for 2 years before attending Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1879.[1]
Career
After six months working in the Station Agent's office at the Bellows Falls railway station, he became a shipping clerk at $10 per week at Western Electric Company. He was the International department manager in 1897. He traveled to Japan in 1896 and subsequently initiated Western Electric's participation in the forming of Nippon Electric Company, Ltd., where his assistant, Walter Tenney Carleton became a founding director. Thayer soon became the general manager in New York City and later vice-president.[1]
In 1909, he became president of Western Electric Company and vice-president at AT&T, American Telephone & Telegraph. He left Western Electric Company in June 1919 to succeed his close friend Theodore Vail as president of AT&T. In 1920 the telephone system was de-nationalized by the Willis-Graham Act, freeing AT&T to acquire independent telephone companies.[4] Under Thayer, AT&T flourished as a regulated monopoly and spread into radio broadcasting. In 1925, the research activities of AT&T and Western Electric were consolidated into Bell Labs.[5] In 1925, Thayer resigned the presidency and became board chairman at AT&T, continuing in that role until he resigned in 1928.[6]
Personal life
On April 26, 1887, Thayer was married to Carrie Motte Ransom (1864–1916) in Porter, New York. Carrie was a daughter of Eliza Jane (née Estes) Ransom and William Henry Harrison Ransom, a founder of Ransomville, New York (a hamlet in Porter). After living on Staten Island and then Kingsbridge, the Thayers settled in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1903. Together, they had three children:
- Dorothy Thayer (1889–1946),[7] who married Floyd Clark Noble, a son of Henry George Stebbins Noble (the president of the New York Stock Exchange from 1914 to 1919).[8]
- Ruth Thayer (1892–1982), who married Webb William Weeks. After his death, she married her late sisters widower, Floyd Clarke Noble.[9]
- John Alden Thayer (1895–1964), who married Dorothy Weeks Scudder, a granddaughter of U.S. Representative Henry Joel Scudder, in Suffolk Co. in 1917.[10][11] He was owner and editor of The Ridgefield Press and, later, mayor of Delray, Florida.[12]
Carrie Thayer died in New Canaan in May 1916.[13] After a long illness, Thayer died at his home in New Canaan on September 3, 1936.[1]
From 1937 until 2011 the primary dining facility at Dartmouth College was named Thayer Hall in honor of his service to the College, which included serving on the Board of Trustees.[14]
References
- "H. B. THAYER DEAD; EX-HEAD OF A.T.&T.; President and Chairman of Telephone Company Retired. on 70th Birthday in 1928" (PDF). The New York Times. September 4, 1936. p. 19. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- Cutter, William Richard (1913). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis historical publishing Company. p. 1916. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- Acts and Laws Passed by the Legislature of the State of Vermont. J. Padock & A. Spooner, printers to the General Assembly. 1851. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- Ward, Robert C. Jr., The Chaos of Covergence: A Study of the Process of Decay, Change, and Transformation within the Telephone Policy Subsystem of the United States, chapter 7
- AT&T Corporation – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on AT&T Corporation
- Thayer, Harry Bates (June 1933). Autobiography. privately held: Not published.
- "Mrs. Floyd C. Noble" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1946. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- "Miss Dorothy Thayer's Wedding" (PDF). The New York Times. May 4, 1913. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- The National Magazine: An Illustrated monthly. Bostonian Publishing Company. 1921. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- "Miss Scudder Weds on Friday". The New York Times. August 14, 1917. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (December 8, 1939). "DIVORCES JOHN A. THAYER; Former Dorothy Scudder Gets Reno Decree on Cruelty Charge". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- Times, Special to The New York (December 15, 1957). "DARTMOUTH GIVEN JOHN ALDEN BIBLE; Volume Dating at Least to 1633 is Contributed by a Descendant of Pilgrim". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- "Died". The New York Times. May 27, 1916. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- "Dartmouth Class of 1953 gift will revitalize dining and social space". Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2012.