Sigourney Thayer (March 24, 1896 – November 2, 1944) was an American theatrical producer, World War I aviator, and poet.

Early life

Thayer was born in

Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps, though ...

, the son of Rev.

William Greenough Thayer William Greenough Thayer (December 24, 1863 – November 27, 1934) was an American educator, headmaster of St. Mark's School from 1894 to 1930. Early life Thayer was born in New Brighton, Richmond County, New York, the son of Robert Helyer Thay ...

(1863–1934), headmaster of St. Mark's School from 1894–1930, and Violet (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Otis) Thayer, a member of the

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonis ...

Otis family The Otis family is a Boston Brahmin family from Massachusetts best known for its involvement in early American politics. History The family was originally landowning farmers of Glastonbury, Somerset, the Otises went to New England during the Puri ...

of Boston. He was the brother of Robert Helyer Thayer (1901−1984), a lawyer, naval officer and diplomat.

Career

In June 1916, Thayer enlisted and first served on the American-Mexican border. He became a 1st Lieutenant and pilot in the

1st Operations Group The 1st Operations Group (1 OG) is the flying component of the 1st Fighter Wing, assigned to the USAF Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The 1st Operations Group is the oldest major air combat unit in ...

, and afterwards graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in 1918. He wrote regular poetry for the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and his poem, "The Dead" has appeared in numerous

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 ...

anthologies. In later life, Thayer became an executive at

Vultee Aircraft The Vultee Aircraft Corporation became an independent company in 1939 in Los Angeles County, California. It had limited success before merging with the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1943, to form the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporati ...

Theatrical producer

In the 1920s and 1930s, Thayer was a theatrical producer. He produced ''Last Night of Don Juan: The Pilgrimage'' (1925), ''Beau-Strings'' (1926), ''Damn the Tears'' (1927), ''Bridal Wise'' (1932), and ''

Keeper of the Keys ''Keeper of the Keys'' (1932) is the sixth and last mystery in the Charlie Chan series of Earl Derr Biggers; Biggers was planning on continuing the series, but died in 1933 before he could. The films continued the series for him. Plot summary ...

'' (1933).

Personal life

In December 1928, he married Emily O'Neill (née Davies) Vanderbilt (1903–1935) of Manhattan (who had divorced

William Henry Vanderbilt III William Henry Vanderbilt III (November 24, 1901April 14, 1981) was Governor of Rhode Island and a member of the wealthy and socially prominent Vanderbilt family. Early life William Henry Vanderbilt III was born in New York City on November 24, ...

earlier the same year). She was the daughter of Frederick Martin Davies, granddaughter of Daniel O'Neill, owner of the

Pittsburgh Dispatch The ''Pittsburgh Dispatch'' was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States. From 1880 ...

newspaper, and the grandniece of

Frederick Townsend Martin Frederick Townsend Martin (December 6, 1849 – March 8, 1914) was a New York City writer, advocate for the poor, and an acknowledged leader of society in New York. He was referred to as a "millionaire with a mission." Early life Martin was born ...

, a prominent writer of the 1920s. Their marriage lasted less than a year. After her divorce from Thayer in 1929, Emily married writer

Raoul Whitfield Raoul Whitfield (November 22, 1896 – January 24, 1945) was an American writer of adventure, aviation, and hardboiled crime fiction. During his writing career, from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s, Whitfield published over 300 short stories and se ...

(1896–1945) in 1933. She filed for divorce in February 1935, and killed herself at the Dead Horse Ranch near

Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas ("Old Town") and East Las Vegas ("New Town" ...

, on May 24, 1935. In April 1931, Thayer married Mary "Molly" Van Rensselaer Cogswell (1902–1983), daughter of Cullen Van Rensselaer Cogswell, a Manhattan socialite, and great granddaughter of General John Cullen Van Rensselaer. She was a society columnist for the ''

New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'', and wrote under the house pseudonym "Madame Flutterby", covering the

Lindbergh kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields (Amwell and Ho ...

. She wrote the first biography of

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

, published by Doubleday in 1961. Together, they had a daughter: * Eugenie Sigourney Thayer (1933–2015), who married Hussein Rahim, the son of Kamil Abdul Rahim, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States, in 1961. He died in 1944 in an automobile accident in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, and is buried at Southborough Rural Cemetery,

References

External links

* *
The Great War : Poetry : Poem - THE DEAD
at beck.library.emory.edu "The Dead"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thayer, Sigourney 1896 births 1944 deaths American aviators 20th-century American poets American theatre managers and producers Amherst College alumni Otis family People from Southborough, Massachusetts Road incident deaths in Pennsylvania St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni Thayer family