Thomas Anthony Thacher (January 11, 1815 – April 7, 1886) was an American classicist and college administrator.

Early life

Thomas A. Thacher was born January 11, 1815, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, the son of Anne (née Parks) and Peter Thacher. His first American ancestor on his father's side was Thomas Thacher who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635, and later became minister of the

Old South Meeting House The Old South Meeting House is a historic Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational church building located at the corner of Milk Street, Boston, Milk and Washington Street (Boston), Washington Streets in the Downtown Crossing are ...

in Boston; on his mother's side he was descended from the Rev. Thomas Buckingham of Saybrook, one of the founders of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, since known as

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, ...

. He had his preparatory training at the

Hopkins Grammar School Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational, day school for grades 7–12 located in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1660, Edward Hopkins, seven-time governor of the Connecticut Colony, bequeathed a portion of his estate to found ...

, Hartford, and graduated from Yale with the class of 1835; where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

Career

For a short time he held a temporary teaching position in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

, and then went to a school in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, which was later to become

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...

. In all he spent three years teaching in two academies in

, returning to Yale College on December 1, 1838, to take the position of tutor. He was appointed assistant professor of Latin and Greek in 1842 and one year later the title was restricted to Latin and he was given a year's leave of absence for study in Europe. This year was eventually extended to two years and from 1843 to 1845 he studied in Germany and Italy. While in Berlin he instructed the Crown Prince of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and his cousin, Prince Frederick Charles. Six years after his return to Yale he was made professor of Latin. He was long a trustee of Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven and was a member of the state board of education 1866-77. He was on the committee for building the Yale Art School, serving with President

Noah Porter Noah Thomas Porter III (December 14, 1811 – March 4, 1892)''Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University'', Yale University, 1891-2, New Haven, pp. 82-83. was an American Congregational minister, academic, philosopher, author, lexicographer ...

and Professor

Daniel Coit Gilman Daniel Coit Gilman (; July 6, 1831 – October 13, 1908) was an American educator and academic. Gilman was instrumental in founding the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale College, and subsequently served as the second president of the University ...

. Thacher was identified with Yale College more closely than any of his contemporaries. President

Timothy Dwight V Timothy Dwight V (November 16, 1828 – May 26, 1916) was an American academic, educator, Congregational minister, and President of Yale University (1886–1898). During his years as the school's president, Yale's schools first organized as a uni ...

said of him, ''"His influence with the Faculty and the Corporation equaled or even surpassed that of any other College officer."'' This extraordinary position was due not primarily to his scholarship, although he had the reputation of being a sound and thorough scholar, but to his keen interest and constant activity in the management of college affairs both faculty and undergraduate. Before the day of deans, Thacher did much of the work which a dean would perform today. He was known as one of the best disciplinarians that the college ever had and yet he retained the devotion and affection of undergraduates to an extraordinary degree. As an undergraduate he had been ''"exuberant in spirit,"'' and one who was a student under him in Yale writes of ''"Tutor Thacher, the florid and fiery, of perpetual youth and enthusiasm."'' He and Professor

Theodore Dwight Woolsey Theodore Dwight Woolsey (31 October 1801 – 1 July 1889) was an American academic, author and President of Yale College from 1846 through 1871. Biography Theodore Dwight Woolsey was born 31 October 1801 in New York City. His mother was Eliza ...

were the first advocates at Yale of graduate instruction in non-technical fields and he himself was one of the first classicists to go abroad for the advancement of his scholarship. This scholarship was never very productive. He edited Cicero's

De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'', ''On Obligations'', or ''On Moral Responsibilities'') is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe mor ...

in 1850, and largely as a result of his work with Karl Zumpt in Berlin he published in 1871 ''A Latin Grammar for the Use of Schools'', a translation of the work of Johan Nikolai Madvig. Aside from these productions, a few slight essays and book reviews in the New Englander make up his professional output. A teacher always, rather than an investigator, he seems even to have had a slightly suspicious attitude toward those who gave too much time to research. Even in his teaching he was possibly too much of a disciplinarian and was sometimes thought to stick too rigorously to the grammar. To his work as administrator, Thacher brought exceptional qualifications and in this line lay his great achievements. As a teacher he contributed his share to the department's prestige while, with his strong convictions and fearless courage, his energy in raising and administering funds, his interest in people, his wide acquaintance with Yale alumni, and his devout and conscientious character, he played a larger role in the building of modern Yale than that of any one of his contemporaries. -- Clarence W. Mendell

Family

On September 16, 1846, he married Elizabeth Day, the daughter of Yale president

Jeremiah Day Jeremiah Day (August 3, 1773 – August 22, 1867) was an American academic, a Congregational minister and President of Yale College (1817–1846). Early life Day was the son of Rev. Jeremiah and Abigail (Noble) Osborn Day, who were descendan ...

and Olivia (Jones) Day. She died on May 18, 1858, leaving five sons (James Kingsley Thacher, Thomas Thacher, Edward Stanley Thacher, Alfred Beaumont Thacher, and John Seymour Thacher). On August 1, 1860, he married her cousin Elizabeth Baldwin Sherman, and had three sons and one daughter (Sherman Day Thacher, William Larned Thacher, Elizabeth Baldwin Thacher, and George Thacher). Both wives were granddaughters of founding father

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

. His brother was Yale president

George Thacher George Thacher (July 25, 1817 – December 27, 1878) was the fifth President of the University of Iowa, serving from 1871 to 1877. Early life George Thacher was born on July 25, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Anne (née Parks) and Peter Th ...

. His son Thomas Thacher was a prominent lawyer. His sons Sherman Day Thacher and William Larned Thacher were the founders of the Thacher School in

Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east– ...

; and his daughter Elizabeth Sherman Thacher married

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

. He was also the paternal grandfather of US Solicitor General Thomas D. Thacher (son of Thomas Thacher) and Molly Kazan (daughter of Alfred Beaumont Thacher, wife of Elia Kazan), and the great-great-grandfather of actresses

Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She has acted in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' It's Complicated'' (2009). She starred in '' Happythankyoumoreplease'' ...

and Maya Kazan (their father in Nicholas Kazan). Thacher died April 7, 1886, in New Haven, Connecticut.

References

Sources

* "Thomas Anthony Thacher." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

External links

* * Thomas Anthony Thacher Papers (MS 1697). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thacher, Thomas Anthony 1815 births 1886 deaths Yale College alumni Hopkins School alumni Oglethorpe University alumni Yale University faculty American people of English descent Members of Skull and Bones