This beautiful and massive zinc monument marks the final resting place of the Thayer family including father, Otis Adonijah Thayer; mother, Annette Todd Putney Thayer; and a son, James Richard Thayer. The monument is found in the Springhill cemetery overlooking the city of Charleston, West Virginia.
The family plot rests on one of the highest points in the older sections of the cemetery. The massive size is accentuated by a grieving angle figurine perched elegantly atop the memorial to this family.
Otis Adonijah Thayer is the son of Job Thayer and Fanny Taylor.
He was born on 26 October 1835 and died on 23 November 1900.
On 1 February 1863 at Malden, West Virginia, he married Annette Todd Putney who was born on 16 March 1844 and died on 12 December 1936. She is the daughter of Richard E Putney and Aletha Todd.
Together Otis and Annette Thayer had five children:
Garland Todd Thayer Sr. 1864-1956
James Richard Thayer 1867-1896
Annette May Thayer; 1879-1923
Harry Guerrant Thayer; 1885-????
[Obituary for Otis Thayer appears in the Charleston Newspaper 11/24/1900]
Well Known Citizen Quietly and Peacefully Passes Away End of an Active and Successful Career One of the Builders of a Leading Kanawha County Industrial Institution Charitable-Christian Man Otis A. Thayer Dead.
Otis A. Thayer died at his home, on the South Side, between 8 and 9 o'clock yesterday morning. Mr. Thayer had been ill for several months with organic heart trouble, but had of late shown such marked signs of improvement that his recovery seemed assured, and the anxiety of his friends and family was very much relieved. On Thursday he seemed so much better that he not only visited the foundry, on the South Side but came over into town and was driven about the streets for some time. While at the foundry he got on the scales and noting his weight, remarked to me working near that he was getting well rapidly. He slept well Thursday night, and arose yesterday morning shortly after daylight, saying to the nurse in attendance that he felt quite well. After staying up a short time he said he would lie down again and see if he could not get another nap. He went to sleep and seemed to be resting well, the nurse going to his bedside once or twice to see that he was comfortable. About 9 o'clock his brother and partner, W. T. Thayer, called to see him, and when they went to see if he was still asleep, it was found that he was dead. There was no evidence of a struggle or of any convulsive movement, all indications being that he had quietly and peacefully passed from sleep to death. Deceased was a native of Kanawha county, and was born October 26, 1835. Many years ago he and his brother, William T. established a foundry business on the South Side, conducting it under the name of O. A. and W. T. Thayer until June 1, 1900, when it became a chartered institution, known as the South Side Foundry and Machine Company. Starting in a small way, the two brothers had by energy and activity, combined with rare good business judgment, built it up to a commanding place among the industrial institutions of the State, until now it is one of the most widely know and extensively patronized manufacturing establishments in all this section of the country. In addition to his to his interest in the foundry business. Mr. Thayer was a stockholder and director in the Little Fire Creek Coal Company, the Beury Coal and Coke Company, the Thayer Coal and Coke Company, the Buffalo Creek Coal and Coke Company, the Pott's Creek Mining and Manufacturing Company and a holder of large interests in other properties and industries through the country. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of this city, in which he had long been a deacon, an was one of the chief contributors to the building and maintaining of the Mission Church on the South Side. He was a consistent and earnest church worker, a charitable, upright citizen. Only last Saturday he had given $500 to the Presbyterian Female School at Lewisburg. Mr. Thayer, in early life was united in marriage to Miss Annette Putney, daughter of the late Richard Putney, long a leading citizen of Malden. Mrs. Thayer lives to morn his demise, together with three children, fruits of the union - Mrs. Stewart W. Walker, of Martinsburg, W.Va, G. T., Otis A., Jr., and Harry G. Thayer. The funeral will take place at the First Presbyterian Church at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, Dr. J. C. Barr officiating, and the interment will take place at Spring Hill Cemetery. Honorary Pall-Bearers-J. L. Beury, of Beury, Alex F. Mathews, of Lewisburg, George E. Price, Wesley Mollohan, S. L. Flournoy, J. Q. Dickinson, L. Pritchard, Dr. F. S. Thomas, C. C. Lewis, F. W. Abney, and J. D. Baines, of this city. Active Pall-Bearers - Joel Ruffner, W. F. Goshorn, Harry Prichard, Dr. W. W. Thompkins, George F. Coyle, C. C. Beury, R. G. Hubbard, Henry Putney.
[The obituary for Annette Thayer is published in “The Charleston Gazette”, Sunday, December 13, 1936.]
Local Woman Dies Mrs. Annette Putney Thayer 92, pioneer resident of the Kanawha valley, died at 5 o'clock yesterday morning at her home "Willow Bank" on South Side following a brief illness of pneumonia. She was a widow of Otis A. Thayer. Funeral Services will be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon at the residence with the Rev. Ernest Thompson, D. D. pastor of the First Presbyterian church, and the Rev. J. E. Wayland of Malden, officiating. Burial will be in Spring Hill cemetery. Mrs. Thayer was born in the Kanawha Valley and had spent all her life in this section. Her husband, whom she married in 1863, died in 1900. She was a member of one of the Pioneer families of this section, her grandmother, Alethea Todd, owned the land years ago where the present Charleston post office building stands. O. A. Thayer, who died in 1900, established, with his brother, William T. Thayer, the South Side Foundry and Machine works which they operated from 1870 to 1900 at which time it was taken over by G. T. Thayer. O A. and W. T. Thayer and the Ruffner Brothers operated the steam ferry for many years until the bridge was built across the Kanawha river to the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad station. The ferry was then sold to the bridge company. Mrs. Thayer died in the old brick home which was built by Mr. Thayer and had been occupied by the family for 65 years. The property was formerly owned by the Monroe Quarrier family. Mrs. Thayer was the oldest member of the First Presbyterian Church having united with the church at Malden in 1858 under the pastorate of her uncle, the Rev. Henry Ruffner who established the Presbyterian church here in 1819. She was a member of the Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the Confederacy. She is survived by two sons, G. T. Thayer, Sr., and Harry G. Thayer, both of Charleston, one daughter, Mrs. Stuart Walker of Washington, D.C., and one sister, Mrs. I. J. Stanley of Charleston, Active pallbearers will be Lewis Truslow, John T. Morgan, R. B. Parrish, W. T. Thayer, Bernard Wehrle, and Jack Couch. The Simpson Funeral directors will have charge of the services.
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