Julia H. Thayer was born on October 6, 1847, in Keeseville, New York, a village near Lake Champlain.[2] Her parents were Gilbert and Adeline Maria (Foote) Thayer. Gilbert had been the instructor and principal of the Jacksonville Female Academy (now Illinois College). Julia's siblings were Emma, Henry, Frank, and Addie.[5]
At the age of ten, the family moved to Illinois. She was educated at her father's school in Morgan Park, the Chicago Female College.[2]
Career
Thayer's brother was the first person to whom she confided that she wrote poetry. Reading some of her works to an unsuspecting grandmother, Thayer was horrified that the grandmother too often pronounced Thayer's writing as but "silly trash," and rarely ascribed the praise of "very good," or, "I like that sentiment."[2]
She first published her verses anonymously, but since 1870, the productions, chiefly poetical, appeared in various papers and periodicals under her own name. She received flattering inducements to write prose but was most devoted to poetry. Her best works were religious poems and simple lyrics. She wore a plain gold ring on the third finger of her left hand, the first piece of precious metal she received for one of her poems. Thayer was not only a writer of lyrical poetry, but occasionally wrote prose, and was also a fine musician.
[6]
After her father's death in 1892, Thayer became president of the nonsectarian[7] Chicago Female College,[4] in the Givens Castle, which she owned.
^ abcdMoulton, Charles Wells (1889). "Julia H. Thayer". The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review. C.W. Moulton: 191–93. Retrieved 1 May 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.