Thomas Day Thacher was a lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Thacher was born in Tenafly, New Jersey

Tenafly, New Jersey

Tenafly is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 14,488. Tenafly is an affluent suburb of New York City....

 and was the oldest of four children of Thomas Thacher

Thomas Thacher

Thomas Thacher was a descendant of the Rev. Peter Thacher, the rector of St. Edmonds, Salisbury, England; and of his son, Thomas Thacher, who came to America in 1635, settled in Salem, Massachusetts, and later became the first minister of the Old South Church in Boston. His father, Thomas Anthony...

, a prominent New York lawyer, and Sarah McCulloh (Green) Thacher. Thacher attended Taft School and Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...

 of Andover, Massachusetts

Andover, Massachusetts

Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...

 for his preparatory education, before following his family tradition and attending Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, where he was a member of Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....

. After graduating from Yale in 1904, where he won the university's distinguished John Addison Porter

John Addison Porter

John Addison Porter was an American Professor of Chemistry. He was born in Catskill, New York and died in New Haven, Connecticut...

 Prize, Thacher attended Yale Law School

Yale Law School

Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

 for two years, but left before obtaining his degree. In 1906, he was admitted to the New York bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 and joined the practice of his father at the firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a law firm headquartered in New York City which employs over 800 attorneys in ten offices worldwide. The firm is highly regarded for its litigation and corporate practices, with special attention focused on its mergers and acquisitions specialty...

.

Thomas Day Thacher was the grandson of Yale administrator and professor Thomas Anthony Thacher

Thomas Anthony Thacher

Thomas Anthony Thacher, , classicist and college administrator.-Early life:Thomas A. Thacher was born in Hartford, Conn., the son of Peter and Anne Thacher...

, and the great-great-grandson of American founding father Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and politician, as well as a founding father. He served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic...

.

Public service

Thacher's career in public service began when he was appointed Assistant United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 for the Southern District of New York in 1907, at the age of 26. While in this position, Thacher was recognized for his work in prosecuting customs fraud. In 1910, Thacher returned to Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, where he became a partner in 1914. Thacher remained in practice there until 1925, except during the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, when he worked with the American Red Cross

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

, providing funding for the Bolshevik Revolution, in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 from 1917–1918.

In 1925, President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

 named Thacher to serve as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...

. Thacher was instrumental in investigating the operation of the bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 laws in New York City. His reports to President Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

 were the basis for amendments to the law that extended judicial control of the over bankruptcy proceedings and speeded up the resolution of some cases.

In 1930, Hoover appointed Thacher to serve as Solicitor General of the United States. Thacher held that office until May 1933, when he returned to his New York legal practice. He helped create the movement that made possible the election of Fiorello H. La Guardia as mayor of New York. La Guardia appointed Thacher to serve as the leader on the commission to write a new city charter and as the city's corporation counsel

Corporation Counsel

The Corporation Counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer in some municipal and county jurisdictions, who handles civil claims against the city, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corporation counsels do not prosecute criminal cases, though...

 in 1943. On May 12, 1943, Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed Thacher to the New York Court of Appeals

New York Court of Appeals

The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...

 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward R. Finch

Edward R. Finch

Edward Ridley Finch was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He graduated from Yale College in 1895, and from Columbia University School of Law in 1898....

. In November 1943

New York state election, 1943

The 1943 New York state election was held on November 2, 1943, to elect the Lieutenant Governor and a judge of the New York Court of Appeals.-Background:...

, Thacher was elected to a full fourteen-year term, but resigned from the bench on November 18, 1948.

Thacher also served as a fellow of the Yale Corporation

Yale Corporation

The Yale Corporation, sometimes, and more formally, known as The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The Corporation comprises 19 members:...

 from 1931–1949 and as president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Association of the Bar of the City of New York

The New York City Bar Association , founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth...

 from 1933 to 1935. He was a member of numerous social clubs. He first married Eunice Booth Burall, and had three children: Sarah Booth (Storm), Mary Eunice (Brown), and Thomas. After Eunice's death in 1943, Thacher married Eleanor M. Lloyd on July 20, 1945.

Thacher died on November 12, 1950, of a coronary thrombosis

Coronary thrombosis

Coronary thrombosis is a form of thrombosis affecting the coronary circulation. It is associated with stenosis subsequent to clotting. The condition is considered as a type of ischaemic heart disease.It can lead to a myocardial infarction...

 at his home in New York City. He was buried in Brookside Cemetery

Brookside Cemetery, Englewood

-History:It was started in May 1876, by a group of Englewood residents who purchased of land for a cemetery. The property sits on the East side of Engle Street adjacent to Tenafly, New Jersey. The cemetery was named for the brook running beside its eastern boundary. A chapel built with the local...

, in Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...

. Collections of his personal and official papers are archived at Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

and Yale Universities.