Talk:John Boyd Thacher

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[edit] Discussion copied (and reformatted) from User talk:Wknight94 and User talk:Gnhn

A confusing bunch . . . wanted to clarify with you before editing further but it looks like John Boyd the Elder is listed twice in the 1880s timeframe now:

John Boyd Thacher 1886-1888 John Boyd Thacher 1896-1897

Any idea which one is right? I've been trying to find a solid, dependable source for Mayoral info post-1800, but I keep finding a lot of conflicting info. F'rinstance, the Political Graveyard link shows J.B.T. as Mayor in 1926, then J.B.T. II in 1927, even though the elder one was dead by then, as best I can ascertain.--Gnhn 15:23, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

LOL, yeah, I'm trying to sort that out right now in fact. Working on a decent-sized edit to John Boyd Thacher. It appears the first generation of Thachers is basically George Hornell Thacher (1818-1887) who was mayor four different times from 1860-1874(http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/hmgfm/thacher.html). The second generation is:
  1. John Boyd Thacher (1847-1909), two-time mayor, once in the 1880s, once in the 1890s. Also state senator.
  2. George Hornell Thacher (1851-?), businessman, never mayor
The third generation is John Boyd Thacher II (1882-1957) who was the son of the younger George Harnell Thacher and mayor from 1926-1940.
Political graveyard is a pretty unreliable source. I e-mailed the guy once and he even admitted that there are a lot of inaccuracies - and I think he has no plans to fix them. You get what you pay for, right?
Anyway, I'm planning pages on John Boyd Thacher II as well as the elder George Harnell Thacher - but feel free to start them first! I'm also planning on making my sources clear which doesn't seem to be the case with most of the Albany mayoral information.  :) —Wknight94 (talk) 15:33, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Cool, thanks . . . what I can't figure out is whether the EXISTING wiki on JBT is correct, or the same person. Was there ANOTHER one with that name, who was the writer, or was the writer the mayor/senator as well? I pulled the mayoral info about him from the page because the dates shown included some of George H's . . . so it sounds like at least two of those need to go back in. Glad you're on top of it!--Gnhn 15:37, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
The mayoral info in Albany, New York is correct as far as I can tell - at least the Thacher parts. The current John Boyd Thacher article is the same guy that was mayor and state senator. That's what I'm in the process of adding in my other edit window. The mayor which you modified recently in Albany, New York is John Boyd Thacher II who does not yet have an article.
Oh, I didn't even notice you modified the John Boyd Thacher article until now. I think the info you removed was correct. I think the park was named after the elder JBT - at least according to http://www.albanyruralcemetery.org/albrurcem/Notable.html. Do you see somewhere that says the park was named after JBT II? So what I'm doing now will partially revert your edit there. —Wknight94 (talk) 15:43, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
No worries. Revert away! But check the 1880s JBT dates closely . . . aren't there two competing entries one above the other with slightly different dates, one linking to the JBT page, one not? There's also now a gap of no mayor listed for three years afterwards. Maybe I'll see if I can't get a library copy of the "Mayors of Albany" book this week.--Gnhn 15:45, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Yes, you're right. Only one is linked simply because the WP:MOS says you shouldn't link to the same article twice (within reason). But the 1880s entry and the 1890s entry are the same person. Feel free to add a note if that's adding to your confusion. I too noticed that there are gaps through that time period - and I have no idea why. I guess whoever added the list didn't have sources for the whole time period. I'll confess I didn't look for any sources either - I simply saw the Thacher confusion and decided to try to resolve it. Did you have a source saying the younger JBT is the namesake for the park? I've only found one saying the elder one is the namesake - and having only one source doesn't make me real comfortable. —Wknight94 (talk) 15:56, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
Here's a source that says JBT the elder's widow donated the land in 1914: http://www.sthubertsisle.com/page115.html I think that certainly makes it more likely that it was named for him, not his nephew.--Gnhn 15:59, 9 April 2006 (UTC)