Stephen O. Thayer (1831-1904) was born in Canton, Massachusetts, and died in Westborough, Massachusetts. Over his career he was a painter, a printer, and a stove merchant. In 1859, he married Lydia "Lillie" A. Thayer (b. Gordon) in Boston, Massachusetts. She died in 1871. Then in 1872 he married Ellen L. Thayer (b. Davis), who died in 1874. In 1875, he married Abigail "Abbie" C. Thayer (b. Learned) in Newton, Massachusetts. Abbie Thayer had studied with two different students of Mary Baker Eddy's and was also a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. Stephen Thayer was a member of Eliot Church in Newton. He wrote to Eddy in 1886 to express interest in having a sermon preached by William I. Gill published for distribution.

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