John Milton Thayer was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician.
Background
Thayer was born in Bellingham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in 1820. He was the youngest of nine children of Capt. Elias Thayer and his wife, Mrs. Ruthe T. Staples, and a descendant of Thomas Thayer who settled at Braintree before 1647.
Education
He was reared upon a farm and educated in a district school. After some experience as a rural teacher he attended Brown University from which he was graduated with honor in 1841.
Career
He read law in Worcester, was admitted to the Worcester County bar, and practised until about 1854. During this time he became a lieutenant of the Worcester Light Infantry, and, for a while, was editor of the Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal.
In the spring of 1854 he made an exploratory expedition to Nebraska and in the autumn moved with his family to Omaha where he acquired land and engaged in farming. In the following year he was admitted to the bar in Nebraska. Indian troubles arose and he was commissioned the first brigadier-general of the territorial militia. He led expeditions against the Pawnee Indians in 1855 and 1859, and at the outbreak of the Civil War was commissioned colonel of the 16t Nebraska Volunteers. He served with distinction with the army of the West throughout the war and returned home at its conclusion, having been brevetted major-general of volunteers.
His political career began in the territorial council of 1860. He was a member of the constitutional conventions of 1860 and 1866 and was elected one of the first United States senators from Nebraska on the Republican ticket. He served from 1867 to 1871. In the reconstruction contests he was an ardent and active radical. He served on various committees: Military Affairs, Indian Affairs, Patents and Patent Office, and Enrollment of Bills. He was an ardent supporter of President Grant's administration. His best work in Congress was relative to Indian affairs. Of this subject he had first-hand knowledge and offered realistic solutions in contrast to the idealism of his fellow radicals from the Northeast. President Grant appointed him governor of Wyoming Territory, 1875-79. On his return to Nebraska he became especially active in the G. A. R. and acted in the capacity of state commander – a position yielding much publicity. He was elected governor on the Republican ticket in 1886 and reëlected two years later. Although not a candidate for reëlection in 1890 he brought suit against Gov. James E. Boyd on the grounds that the latter was not a citizen of the United States and secured a decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court that left him in the governorship until this decision was reversed by the United States Supreme Court in 1892.
Thayer's career as governor was not distinctive. His imposing personal appearance, his military experiences, and his willingness to conform to the demands of his party were his primary assets. In the contests between the anti-monopolists and the railroads he occupied a neutral position. At the expiration of his governorship, he retired to live in Lincoln. The federal government voted him a liberal pension.