Martin Russell Thayer

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Martin Russell Thayer (January 27, 1819–October 14, 1906) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

[edit] Early life

Martin Russell Thayer was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, near the city limits of Petersburg, Virginia. He attended the Mount Pleasant Classical Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Amherst College. He moved with his father to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1837. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1840. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Philadelphia.

[edit] Public Service

He was a commissioner to revise the revenue laws of Pennsylvania in 1862. Thayer was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Private Land Claims during the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1866. He resumed the practice of law.

He was judge of the district court of Philadelphia from 1867 to 1874, and served as president judge of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia from 1874 until his resignation in 1896. He was elected by the judges of the common pleas court prothonotary of Philadelphia in 1896. He also engaged in literary pursuits and died in Philadelphia in 1906. Interment in St. James the Less Church Cemetery.

[edit] Sources

Preceded by William M. Davis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district 1863-1867	Succeeded by Caleb N. Taylor