John Borland Thayer (1836-1904)

He was born at Philadelphia. He was educated at the Episcopal Academy and the University of Pennsylvania, entering in 1853 and leaving at the close of the junior year. He was a member of the Delta Phi Fraternity. He studied law in the office of his elder half-brother, Judge M. Russell Thayer, and was called to the bar in 1840. He was awarded the degree of LL.D. in 1896. In 1859, he married Mary, daughter of Lt. George W. Chapman, U.S.N. They were the parents of five sons - including his namesake who went down on the RMS Titanic - and one daughter.