Marian Thayer

Marian Thayer
Marian Thayer circa 1900
Born	Marian Longstreth Morris (1872-11-09)November 9, 1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	April 14, 1944(1944-04-14) (aged 71) Haverford, Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)	John Borland Thayer

Marian Thayer was the wife of John Borland Thayer II, a Director and Second Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the mother of John Borland "Jack" Thayer III. All three, and their maid Margaret Fleming, were passengers on RMS Titanic in 1912. Marian, Jack, and Margaret survived the tragedy, but John II perished when the ship sank.

Marian Longstreth Morris was born in 1872, in Pennsylvania. Her father was Frederick Wistar Morris, and her mother was Elizabeth Flower Paul. Marian one of seven children, three boys and four girls.

Her father Frederick was part of the Morris family firm of Morris Wheeler and Co., which was a prosperous iron and steel company. Her grandfather, Israel Morris II, who owned the firm, bought the Dundale Estate at Villanova, Pennsylvania as a country residence for himself and his children. On this estate he built numerous large houses for his sons, one of which was for Frederick (shown on the left). It was in this house that Marian spent much of her childhood.

In 1892, at the age of 20, Marian married John Borland Thayer, who at that time was a clerk in railway administration and ten years her senior. Over the years John was progressively promoted, and he eventually became Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The couple had four children, including Jack Thayer (1894-1945). He was the only one of Marian and John's children to travel with them on the Titanic.

The family lived in Haverford in a very large house called Redwood. The Federal Census shows that in 1910, Margaret Fleming was employed by the Thayer family as a maid. She travelled with John, Marian, and Jack in 1912 when they went to Europe and returned home with them on the Titanic.

The family and their maid boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg and occupied adjoining cabins C68 and C70. On the Sunday afternoon before the ship sank, Marian and her friend Emily Ryerson went for a stroll on the deck and encountered White Star official, Bruce Ismay. According to Ryerson, Ismay showed them a telegram which said there were icebergs in the area. She also claimed in a deposition to the US Senate Inquiry about the Titanic that Ismay said they were going to start extra boilers on the ship.