Contributor's Attic
TYLER THAYER, UNION VETERAN
Tyler Daniels Thayer was born September 26, 1833 at Carrollton,
Montgomery County, Ohio. He was the eldest of three children born to
David and Mary Ann (Dunn) Thayer.
In 1857, he married Adaline Morse in Allen County, Ohio and had two
children from that union: Mary Lois, born 1859 and Gail, born 1876.
In July 1861, Tyler Thayer enlisted with Company I, 27th Ohio
Infantry, attaining the ranks of Corporal and Sergeant. Over the
following three-year enlistment his company was involved in the
victorious engagement at Springfield, the siege and capture of New
Madrid and the siege and Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. The company
clashed with General Nathan B. Forrest in western Tennessee, returning
to Corinth until assuming duty at Memphis and later participating in
the Atlanta Campaign.
Following the War, he and his family returned to Lima, Ohio and then
settled a short time in Grandview, Spencer County, Indiana before
heading west to Missouri, calling Henry County his home. His wife died
in 1878 and he remarried in 1892 to Mrs. Harriet Clark, also widowed.
They moved to St. Clair County where he was a member of the Gen. J.B.
Steadman Post, #172, G.A.R. in Appleton City and the Methodist Church.
Mr. Thayer was a painter by trade until his health deteriorated. He
died June 23, 1918 in Appleton City.
His obituary in the July 11, 1918 issue of the Appleton City Journal
referred to him as a “well read man being a great lover of good books
and an untiring reader of the better class of magazines and daily
papers.”
He was described as a “loyal good citizen,” and at the recommendation
of the Mayor, all of the business houses in the city were closed
during the hour of his funeral.
The writer is the Great Niece of Tyler D. Thayer who was her Great,
Great Grandfather’s brother. While researching for the resting place
of her Great, Great Grandfather, she researched Tyler Thayer and
discovered that he was buried in an unmarked grave in Appleton City
Cemetery. Through the efforts of Wanda Alexander, St. Clair County
Historical Society and Larry Dines, Appleton City VFW, his grave was
located which allowed the writer to apply for a headstone through the
Veterans Administration Memorial Programs Service.
Submitted by: Sheila Greenleaf
