His father was a member of the Continental Congress and served as a Colonel during the revolutionary war and was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General 1st Division, Massachusetts Militia at the time of Shays' Rebellion.
[7][8] His fathers friend, John Adams, within ten years went on to become a key figure in the American Revolution, prior to being elected the second President of the United States in 1796.
Thayer's aspirations in politics, albeit at a local level in Massachusetts would be curtailed by his untimely death in 1798 of apoplexy.
Thayer married Hannah Sarah Jackson in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 21, 1795, a year into his role as sheriff.
[11][12] His children were orphaned upon the death of his wife in 1809, and subject to a guardianship dispute involving their stepfather Stephen Thayer.
[14] His half brother, Ebenezer Thayer Jr. was the first sheriff of Norfolk County, and descended from his fathers first marriage to Susannah, the daughter of Rev.