Adin Thayer (September 24, 1816 – December 8, 1890 in

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

Summit County, Ohio Summit County is an urban county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 540,428, making it the fourth-most populous county in Ohio. Its county seat and largest city is Akron. The county was formed on March 3, 1840, ...

) was an American politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was the son of Adin Thayer (1785–1858) and Mary (Ball) Thayer. He married first Eliza D. (1821–1843). He married second Fanny A. Crawford (1820–1875). He lived at

Hoosick Falls, New York Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,501 at the 2010 census. During its peak, in 1900, the village had a population of approximately 7,000. The village of Hoosick Falls is near the center ...

. In

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

, he was elected a

Canal Commissioner The Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie and Report, known as the Erie Canal Commission, was a body created by the New York State Legislature in 1810 to plan the Erie Canal. In 1817 a ''Canal Fund'' led by ''Commissioners of the C ...

on the Democratic ticket, and was in office from 1875 to 1877. The office of Canal Commissioner had been abolished by an amendment to the

New York State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

in 1876, pending the appointment of a Superintendent of Public Works. The Canal Commissioners remained in office in 1877. Due to the erroneous belief that, with the office having been abolished, no provisions for the election of a successor existed, no successor was elected in November 1877, and Thayer tried to hold over in office until the eventual appointment of a Superintendent of Public Works. Attorney General Augustus Schoonmaker, Jr. explained that that was not correct. He held that, since the Canal Commissioners should discharge their duties as before until the appointment of a Superintendent of Public Works, and none had been appointed by November 1877, a successor should have been elected to take office on January 1, 1878, that Thayer's term had expired on December 31 and he could not hold over in office, and that in fact a vacancy existed that could be filled according to the State Constitution (in this case by the election of a Canal Commissioner by joint ballot of the State Legislature). Thayer contested Schoonmaker's decision, and threatened to go to court.

David Dudley Field David Dudley Field II (February 13, 1805April 13, 1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of Civil procedure in the United States, American civil procedure. His greatest accomplishment was ...

, as Thayer's attorney gave the opinion that if no successor has been elected, the incumbent should hold over. On the other side, Assemblyman Skinner offered a resolution to elect a successor by joint ballot of the State Legislature on January 17, 1878. The vacancy was not filled, and on February 8, 1878, the first Superintendent of Public Works,

Benjamin S. W. Clark Benjamin S. W. Clark (May 27, 1829 – October 19, 1912) was an American merchant and politician from New York (state), New York. He was the first New York State Superintendent of Public Works. Biography He was born in Franklin County, New York, ...

, qualified to take over the duties from the remaining two Canal Commissioners Christopher A. Walrath and

Darius A. Ogden Darius Adams Ogden (August 14, 1813 Northville, Cayuga County, New York – May 4, 1889 Penn Yan, Yates County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life He was the son of Ezekiel Ogden (1772–1824) and Abigail Brand ...

. He was a delegate to the

1880 Democratic National Convention The 1880 Democratic National Convention was held June 22 to 24, 1880, at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, and nominated Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania for president and William H. English of Indiana for vice president in the United Stat ...

. He died from "paralysis" while staying at the home of his son in Akron, Ohio, and was buried at the Old Maple Grove Cemetery in Hoosick, NY.

Sources

The Democratic state convention
in NYT on September 17, 1874
Schoonmaker's expertise
in NYT on January 7, 1878
''THE CANAL COMMISSIONERSHIP''
in NYT on January 10, 1878
''Starting for Cincinnati''
in NYT on June 18, 1880
Obit
in NYT on December 9, 1890

Burial records from Rensselaer County, at RootsWeb {{DEFAULTSORT:Thayer, Adin 1816 births 1890 deaths People from Hoosick Falls, New York Erie Canal Commissioners