Jackson County, West Virginia Biography of Garland THAYER This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 542-543 Jackson GARLAND TODD THAYER. The South Side Foundry and Machine Works, of Charleston, of which Garland Todd Thayer is president and owner, is an important industry of that city and has been established for fifty years. It has manufactured, sold and installed more machinery and equipment for coal mines than any institution of its kind in the state. Two brothers, O. A. and W. T. Thayer, in 1863 established a foundry and machine works at Malden, West Virginia, which was then the active business center of the Kanawha Valley, in fact that town was larger and more important at that time than Charleston. The principal industry of the valley was the manufacture of salt, and many furnaces were established. The Thayer brothers established a foundry and machine works and manufactured steam engines and other equipment for these furnaces. A few years later they realized Charleston would prove a more favorable center for their plant, and it was removed to its present location on the south side of the Kanawha River opposite Charleston and adjacent to the Chesapeake and Ohio Bail- way (then in the course of construction). The entire plant was moved from Malden to Charleston in 1872, just fifty years ago. The brothers then engaged- in the manufacture of machinery and special equipment required for coal mines, including haulage and hoisting engines and ma- chinery used for coal tipples and other mining operations. About the year 1895 the two brothers who founded the con- cern retired from its active management, which was taken up by the subject of this sketch. In 1900 the South Side Foundry and Machine Works was incorporated with a capital of $100,000.00. G. T. Thayer, with his son, G. T., Jr., now own the plant, the former having purchased the interests of all the others. This company specializes in machinery and equipment for the coal mining industry. In normal times from 125 to 150 men are employed. The foundry is well equipped for making castings for almost any purpose, both heavy and light. The company manufactures castings for many of the industries located within the Kanawha Valley and elsewhere, and enjoys the reputation of supplying only the highest grade of mining machinery and equip- ment. The site secured by the brothers over fifty years ago has proved to be an excellent location for the business, being situated between the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the Kanawha Eiver, thus affording excellent shipping facilities, both by water and rail. Messrs. Otis A. and William T. Thayer, the founders of this business, were born in the Kanawha Valley, sons of Job Thayer, who was a native of Braintree, Massachusetts. O. A. Thayer died in 1900 and his brother, W. T. Thayer, in 1901. Both owned coal lands in Fayette County, West Virginia, and these properties were developed and are now under lease. One of their associates in the coal businss [sic] was Col. Joseph L. Benry, a well known coal operator in the New River coal district of West Virginia. Garland Todd Thayer is a son of Otis A. Thayer. Early in life he learned all details of the mechanical end of the industry, and is thoroughly familiar with every phase of the foundry and machine business. His close, personal supervision of the industry has resulted in the continued successful operation of the plant. He was married in 1892 to Miss Gertrude Venable, whose father, M. W. Venable, is a well known civil and mining engineer of Charleston. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer have four children, three daughters and a son, Garland Todd, Jr., who is secretary of the South Side Foundry and Machine Works and is connected with his father in the operation of the business.