Theodore Sheldon Sayre (April 25, 1837 – December 5, 1916) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

[2] He was also a director of the City Water Works Company and served on the advisory committee of the Orphan Asylum.

In his first week as mayor, the Common Council fired firefighter chief engineer Wesley Dimbleby and replaced him with William J. Supple for political reasons.

While this wasn't unusual for the time, Dimbleby was widely respected and dozens of firefighters quit in protest over the move.

Sayre himself was a volunteer firefighter for years and served as treasurer of the Firemen's Benevolent Association.

[3] Sayre was president of the Utica Bible Club (which furnished Bibles for every room in every hotel in the city), a charter member of the Fort Schuyler Club, and a member of the Utica Mechanics Association, the Utica Art Association, the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Oneida County Historical Society (later the Oneida County History Center).