Life of J. E. Thayer

Charleston Daily Gazette, Sunday, January 13, 1901

Highly Esteemed Citizen of Kanawha Valley

Man of Sterling Character and Estimable Qualities

A story of His Early Life, His Struggles, Successes and Failures, and Many Fine Personal Traits.

The passing of Job E. Thayer removes one of the oldest, most active, well known, highly respected and generally esteemed citizens of the Kanawha Valley.

The writer having know him in close social and business relations and intimate friendship for more than one half a century, can bear witness to the Sterling character and estimable qualities of head and heart.

For the many who have now known him so well for so long as the writer, a short sketch of the man and his life may be of interest.

His father, whose name was also Job, with his young wife and others as a colony, came from Braintree, Mass., early in the century and settled in Western Virginia, first in Upshur County, but not been contented there, came on to the Kanawha Valley. They had a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters of whom only one --W. T. Thayer, of this city--now survives.

Joe E., the third child in order of age, was born in Kanawha County in 1827, and has been recently passed his 73rd anniversary.

His school education was limited to the common schools of the county at that day.

It has been said that "the boy is father to the man". Young Job at a very early age, developed unusual Energy, self-reliance, good nature and a hopeful disposition. Equipped with this valuable outfit, he started out very young "on his own hook for individual tussle with the world. He first went down to Connelton, Ind., and was engaged there for some time with a large coal company, and afterwards spent a year or tow at New Albany. Returning to Kanawha, he operated a shall me on the South Side of the river at Kanawha Falls, with success and profit. Later, about 1859, he started and operated a foundry and machine shop at Malden to supply the wants of the salt Works, then the dominant interest in the valley, after which he engaged in the manufacture of sale in connection with Mr. Frank Noyes, and later purchased, owned and operated the Kenton furnace and what was known as the Venable property.

During the Civil War, when the assets of the Branch Bank of Virginia here had been removed and the building destroyed by the Federal Army, he, in connection with a few others, organized " The Bank of the West," which was for some years a very useful and profitable institution; he later parted with this interest to his brother William.

The Federal Army having destroyed or seized and carried off the stream packet boats then in the river (there were no railroads here in those days), Mr. Thayer and a few others built the well remembered steamer Annie Laurie, and ran her as a Charleston and Cincinnati packet with great accommodation to the public and profit to the owners. Mr. Thayer for a long time commanded the boat in person.

About 1870 Mr. Thayer polled the salt property with the owners of the Noyes and Donnally properties, and they organized a company called "The Splint Coal Company, having three large salt furnaces, about 800 acres of Kanawha bottom land and about 2,000 acres of coal and timber land, but the values of salt property were being much depressed by an outside competition, and the panic of 1973, and general business depression which follows was a crushing blow to the Kanawha salt interest and broke up nearly ever body connected with it. Mr. Thayer full of courage and resource, as usual, started a boat yard and dry docks for building and repairing steam boats and barges, and operated them quite successfully for some years, when a sudden high freshet in the river carried away his entire plant, making a total loss to him. From advancing age and declining health he has not undertaken any active business enterprise since.

Mr. Thayer was a public spirited and generous man, was always ready to "take a hand" in any worthy public or private enterprise as long as he was able, and to the needy he was always ready to "lend a hand" in any way he could.

He was a many of sound conservative judgment and a good judge of values. He was often selected by individuals and appointed by the courts as one of the commissioners to value estates, partition properties and settle controversies; his decisions were so reasonable and fair that they were generally, if not always, accepted as just and equitable. As a salt maker he was often sent as one of important committees to other salt districts to the markets to negotiate purchases or sales of salt or establishing of agencies.

Mr. Thayer was twice married, first in 1859 to Miss McClung of Greenbrier county, they had one son. The wife lived but a short time, and the son is since deceased.

About 1864 he married Ms. Harbin, of Kentucky; they had a family of six daughters and two sons. The widow, five daughters and two sons survive.

In religion Mr. Thayer was a Presbyterian, and a loyal, staunch and orthodox to the core; his religious duties took precedence over all others. He was a ruling elder in his church for about a third of a century; he was prompt and active in church meetings, choir meetings, communion services. He had a musical ear and a fine voice and for a long time sang in the choir. When delegates were sent to the meetings of Presbyteries abroad he was always one of those selected to represent this church district. His honest good sense and jolly good nature were very taking with strangers, as well as highly appreciated by his friends.

Partly from religious duty, more perhaps from natural instinct, for he was full of "milk of human kindness", and was fond of visiting and comforting the sick and afflicted, and especially the aged and inform, and he was always prompt to attend the funerals of his old friends of earlier days, most of whom have now passed on in advance of him; but many of those left will miss his familiar footsteps, the hearty grip of his hand and his cheering words of comfort.

Mr. Thayer was an all around man, indeed a remarkable man, and one with his characteristics and qualities would have developed into a remarkable man in any community in which his lot might have been case. He was one that class of intelligent, progressive, self-reliant and aggressive men of whom this wild western country produces so many, and who we are generally dominated "self made men and he was a fine specimen of the type".

A prominent trait of Mr. Thayer�s character deserves special mention, and that was his humor; his bump of humor was immensely developed. His repertoire of funny stories and amusing anecdotes gathered in a long lifetime and stored up in a retentive memory, was almost unlimited and always ready to at his tongue�s end to be told in his inimitable style apropos to the occasion an illustrative of the subject in hand.

Since the passage of Job E. Thayer and John L. Cole, the "past masters" of humor in the valley the telling of funny stories and amusing anecdotes is henceforth a new "lost art" here. There are non left who are worthy to latch their shoes in that line.

Another trait worthy attention must have mention, and that is patience under suffering, perhaps equaling if duly compared, that of illustrations namesake of old. He had experiences loss of fortune, family afflictions, and personal suffering stoically and heroically and almost with cheerful resignation.

"Blessed are they who comfort the afflicted and suffer with patience, they shall be remembered"