Marian Thayer

Marian Longstreth Thayer (November 9, 1872 – April 14, 1944) was an American socialite and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. She was the wife of John Borland Thayer II, a Director and Second Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the mother of John Borland "Jack" Thayer III. In 1912, all three of them, along with their maid Margaret Fleming, were passengers on maiden voyage when it struck an iceberg and sank. Marian, Jack III, and Fleming all survived, but John II died. Early life Marian Longstreth Morris was born in 1872, in Pennsylvania. Her father was Frederick Wistar Morris, and her mother was Elizabeth Flower Paul. Marian was one of seven children, three boys and four girls. Her father Frederick was part of the Morris family firm of Morris Wheeler and Co., which was a prosperous iron and steel company. Her grandfather, Israel Morris II, who owned the firm, bought the Dundale Estate at Villanova, Pennsylvania as a country residence for himself and his children. On this estate he built numerous large houses for his sons, one of which was for Frederick (shown on the left). It was in this house that Marian spent much of her childhood.