Lieutenant Sigourney Thayer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigourney_Thayer

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

Thayer was born in Southborough, Massachusetts, the son of Rev. William Greenough Thayer, headmaster of St. Mark's School from 1894–1930, and Violet Otis. He was the brother of Robert H. Thayer, a lawyer, naval officer and diplomat.

Thayer enlisted in June 1916 and first served on the American-Mexican border. He became a 1st Lieutenant and pilot in the 1st Operations Group, and afterwards graduated from Amherst College in 1918. He wrote regular poetry for the Atlantic Monthly, and his poem, "The Dead" has appeared in numerous World War I anthologies.

In later life, Thayer became an executive at Vultee Aircraft. He died in 1944 in an automobile accident in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and is buried at Southborough Rural Cemetery, Southborough, Massachusetts.

Theatrical producer

Last Night of Don Juan: The Pilgrimage, 1925

Beau-Strings, 1926
Damn the Tears, 1927
Bridal Wise, 1932
Keeper of the Keys, 1933
Personal life

In December 1928, he married Mrs. Emily O'Neill Davies Vanderbilt of Manhattan (who had divorced William Henry Vanderbilt III earlier the same year). Their marriage lasted less than a year. After her divorce from Thayer in 1929, she married writer Raoul Whitfield (1896-1945) on 19 July 1933, filed for divorce in February 1935, and killed herself at the Dead Horse Ranch near Las Vegas, New Mexico, on 24 May 1935.

In April 1931, Thayer married Mary "Molly" Van Rensselaer Cogswell (16 June 1902 - 12 December 1983), daughter of Cullen Van Rensselaer Cogswell, a Manhattan socialite, and grand granddaughter of General John Cullen Van Rensselaer. She was a society columnist for the New York Journal, and wrote under the house pseudonym "Madame Flutterby", covering the Lindbergh kidnapping. She wrote the first biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, published by Doubleday in 1961.

Title Some account of Capt. John Frazier and his descendants: with notes on the West and Checkley families Author Josiah Granville Leach Publisher Printed for private circulation by J.B. Lippincott Co., 1910 Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Oct 16, 2007 Length 138 pages

Page 49

106. VIOLET OTIS,5 daughter of William Church Otis by his wife Margaret Sigourney, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, 1 January, 1871; married, 1 June, 1891, Reverend William G. Thayer, born at New Brighton, Massachusetts, 24 December, 1863; son of Robert Hilyer Thayer by his wife Hannah Fuller Appleton. Mr. Thayer was graduated at Amherst College in 1885, and at Cambridge Divinity School in 1889, when he was ordained to the ministry in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He then became a Master at Groton School, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1894, when he was appointed Head-Master of St. Mark's School, at Southborough, Massachusetts, which position he still retains. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and in 1906, received the honorary degree of A.M. from Columbia University.

Children of Reverend William G. and Violet (Otis) Thayer:

202. i. Violet Otis Thayer,* born 1 June, 1892.

203. ii. William G. Thayer,' Junr, born 18 June, 1893.

204. iii. Sigourney Thayer,* born 24 March, 1896.

205. iv. James Appleton Thayer,* born 20 May, 1899.

206. v. Robert Hilyer Thayer,* born 22 September, 1901.

207. vi. Margaret Thayer,* born 12 February, 1905.

http://books.google.com/books?id=E7lMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=W...

From: http://www.ourstory.info/library/2-ww1/Benson2/smsWar5.html

SIGOURNEY THAYER, 1914.

ENTERED the service in June, 1916, at the time of the Mexican border crisis, as a Private in Battery A, 1st F.A., Mass. N.G. In May, 1917, transferred to the Aviation Section, S.R.C. Trained at the Boston Technology Ground School, and at the Mt. Clemens, Mich., Flying School. Commissioned in Nov. at Mineola, L.I., and went in Dec. as 1st Lieutenant, U.S.A.S., to the flying school at Lake Charles, La. Sailed for overseas March 3, 1918. Trained in France at the flying school at Issoudun. Went to the front and served as a Pilot from June 7 until the armistice with the 12th Aeró Squadron, 1st Observation Group, as follows: June 7 to 30, Baccarat sector, Alsace, with the 42nd and 77th Divisions; June 30 to mid-Aug., Château-Thierry drive; Sept., St. Mihiel drive; Sept.-Oct., Meuse-Argonne offensive. Flight Commander in the 12th Aero Squadron. In the middle of Oct., transferred to the 95th Aero Squadron, which was a pursuit squadron. Served as a Pilot in this from Oct. 15 to Nov. 11, 1918. Received a citation from the U.S. Army, dated Sept. 13, 1918, as follows:

   "For gallantry in action near St. Mihiel, France, 13 September, 1918, while on a reconnoissance."

NY Times Obit:

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/11/03/96580164.h...

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/33RP-SZ3