Harry Bates Thayer


Harry Bates Thayer, was an American electrical and telephone businessman.

Early life

Thayer was born on August 17, 1858 in Northfield, Vermont. He was a son of James Carey Barroll Thayer and Martha Jane Thayer, a daughter of John A. and Sarah Pratt. His father, a son of Samuel White Thayer and Ruth Thayer, owned a clothing store and was a founder of Northfield Savings Bank.
He was a descendant of Alden Thayer, Governor Brewster, and other early New England settlors.
He was educated at Northfield High School in Northfield, Vermont. He then attended Norwich University for 2 years before attending Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1879.

Career

After six months working in the Station Agent's office at the Bellows Falls railway station, he became a shipping clerk at $10 per week at Western Electric Company. He was the International department manager in 1897. He traveled to Japan in 1896 and subsequently initiated Western Electric's participation in the forming of Nippon Electric Company, Ltd., where his assistant, Walter Tenney Carleton became a founding director. Thayer soon became the general manager in New York City and later vice-president.
In 1909, he became president of Western Electric Company and vice-president at AT&T, American Telephone & Telegraph. He left Western Electric Company in June 1919 to succeed his close friend Theodore Vail as president of AT&T. In 1920 the telephone system was de-nationalized by the Willis-Graham Act, freeing AT&T to acquire independent telephone companies. Under Thayer, AT&T flourished as a regulated monopoly and spread into radio broadcasting. In 1925, the research activities of AT&T and Western Electric were consolidated into Bell Labs. In 1925, Thayer resigned the presidency and became board chairman at AT&T, continuing in that role until he resigned in 1928.

Personal life

On April 26, 1887, Thayer was married to Carrie Motte Ransom in Porter, New York. Carrie was a daughter of Eliza Jane Ransom and William Henry Harrison Ransom, a founder of Ransomville, New York. After living on Staten Island and then Kingsbridge, the Thayers settled in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1903. Together, they had three children:
Carrie Thayer died in New Canaan in May 1916. After a long illness, Thayer died at his home in New Canaan on September 3, 1936.
From 1937 until 2011 the primary dining facility at Dartmouth College was named Thayer Hall in honor of his service to the College, which included serving on the Board of Trustees.