Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Thayer, Simeon

THAYER, Simeon, soldier, b. in Mendon, Mass., 30 April, 1737; d. in Cumberland, R. I., 14 Oct., 1800. He removed to Rhode Island in his youth, became an apprentice, served in the French war in 1756 with the Rhode Island troops and with Maj. Robert Rogers's rangers, and in 1757 was taken prisoner at Fort William Henry. In May, 1775, he was appointed captain by the Rhode Island assembly, and accompanied Benedict Arnold's expedition against Quebec, where he was made prisoner. He was promoted major, 1 Jan., 1777, and served with great credit in the defence of Red Bank and at Fort Mifflin, receiving for the latter a sword from the Rhode Island assembly in July. He was wounded in the battle of Monmouth, and retired from the service, 1 Jan., 1781. His "Journal of the Invasion of Canada in 1775" has been edited by Edwin M. Stone (Providence, 1867).