John Mowry Thayer (March 15, 1847 – January 13, 1923) was a justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

from 1907 to 1917.

Biography

Born in New Boston, Connecticut, a borough of the town of

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, Thayer attended the public school of his town and Nichols Academy at

Dudley, Massachusetts Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,921 at the 2020 census. History Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732. The town was named for landholders Paul and Wil ...

. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1869. Immediately after his graduation, he began the study of law in the office of James A. Hovey at Norwich, and was admitted to the Bar of New London County, September 19, 1871. Wallace S. Allis, ''Connecticut Reports'' (1923), volume 102, p. 759-760. He began his professional career at

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, but returned to Norwich about a year later, and formed a law partnership with his brother, Charles F. Thayer, which continued as long as he was in active practice. He served as a judge of the City Court of Norwich from 1875 to 1877. He became State's Attorney for New London County in 1883 and served as such until he was appointed as a judge of the Superior Court in 1889. In 1907, he was advanced to a position on the state Supreme Court, serving as a justice of that court until he was retired by age limit on March 15, 1917. Thayer then served as chairman of the Federal Draft Board of his district, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Personal life

Thayer never married and lived to some extent the life of a recluse. He died in Norwich.

References

1847 births 1923 deaths Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Yale College alumni {{Connecticut-state-judge-stub