John Boyd Thacher II (October 26, 1882 – April 25, 1957) was the Mayor of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

from 1926 to 1941. He was the nephew of Albany mayor

John Boyd Thacher John Boyd Thacher (September 11, 1847 – February 25, 1909) was the Mayor of Albany, New York and New York State Senator as well as an American manufacturer, writer, and book collector. He was the son of Albany mayor, George Thacher, and ...

and grandson of another Albany mayor, George H. Thacher. Thacher was the brother of

Ebby Thacher Edwin Throckmorton Thacher (29 April 1896 – 21 March 1966) (commonly known as Ebby Thacher or Ebby T.) was an old drinking friend and later the sponsor of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. He is credited with introducing Wilson to th ...

, who brought Bill Wilson into the

Oxford Group The Oxford Group was a Christian organization (first known as ''First Century Christian Fellowship'') founded by the American Lutheran minister Frank Buchman in 1921. Buchman believed that fear and selfishness were the root of all problems. Fur ...

, which was the model for Wilson's Alcoholics Anonymous. John Boyd Thacher II was born in Leadville, Colorado to the younger George H. Thacher (son of Mayor Thacher) and Emma Louise Bennett, who spent the early 1880s on business in Colorado. The Thachers returned to Albany while John was a toddler and George Thacher re-established ties with his father's Albany business. John Thacher attended

The Albany Academy The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool (age 3) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Renssela ...

and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1904. He graduated with a

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in 1906 and was admitted to the New York

state bar association A state bar association is a bar association that represents or seeks to represent the attorneys practicing law in a particular U.S. state. Their functions differ from state to state, but often include administration of the state bar examination fo ...

. He practiced law in

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for a year before returning to practice in Albany. He married Lulu Abel Cameron of Middle Bridge on June 17, 1918.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

interrupted Thacher's law practice when he saw action in the Air corps and

Ambulance corps Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

, with a considerable amount of his time spent in

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. Thacher then ventured into Albany government, becoming a member of the Common Council of Albany as well as city

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

. On March 4, 1926, Albany mayor

William Stormont Hackett William Stormont Hackett (December 7, 1868 – March 4, 1926) was an American lawyer, banker, businessman and politician. A Democrat, he was most notable for serving as the 70th mayor of Albany, New York after winning an election in 1921 that ...

was killed in a car accident in

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.Albany.edu
/ref> John Boyd Thacher II was named as his temporary successor. That November, he was officially elected mayor in a landslide. Thacher was subsequently reelected as mayor in 1929, 1933 and 1937. In 1932, he was nominated as a Democratic candidate for Governor of New York, but yielded to Herbert H. Lehman, who was elected. Thacher resigned from his position as mayor in 1940 to become Judge of Albany County's Children's Court, a position he held until 1947. A long-term advocate for education and children's rights, he was also instrumental in developing the summer camp that came to bear his name: Camp Thacher. Upon Thacher's resignation as mayor, President of the Common Council Herman F. Hoogkamp was appointed acting mayor in 1940 and served out the remainder of Thacher's term. In 1941, Erastus Corning II was elected mayor; Corning served for over 40 years until his death in 1983. John Boyd Thacher II died in 1957 in Albany, and is interred in

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical A ...

References

External links

The History of New York State Biographies, Part 10
Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1927 - edited by Dr. James Sullivan.

- by Candice Knight at the University at Albany, The State University of New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thacher, John Boyd Ii 1882 births 1957 deaths Princeton University alumni Union College (New York) alumni Mayors of Albany, New York United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery 20th-century American politicians People from Leadville, Colorado The Albany Academy alumni Military personnel from Colorado