Eugene B. Thayer was born on April 30, 1853 in Princeton, Wisconsin. His parents were Lyman W. Thayer, a law graduate of the University of Michigan, and Catherine Davis Thayer. In 1854 the family moved to Wausau where until his death in 1860 the elder Thayer practiced law and contributed to the Central Wisconsin, a local newspaper.
At the age of ten, E.B. began working for the Central Wisconsin as a “printer's devil,” thus beginning a lifelong career in publishing. When that paper briefly suspended publication in 1872, Thayer went to the Wisconsin River Pilot. In 1873 Thayer went back to the Central Wisconsin by purchasing its printing department. In 1882 he left that paper again and started his own newspaper, the Wausau Review. In 1884 he purchased the Wisconsin River Pilot and began printing the Wausau Pilot-Review. In 1894 the name was changed to the Wausau Pilot.
In addition to his own business ventures, Thayer was a director of the Wausau Telephone Company and president from 1923 to 1928. In 1919 he became a director of the First National Bank, serving until 1922.
Throughout his life Thayer was interested in civic affairs. He was a Mason, a member of the First Universalist Church, and an active Democrat. During World War I he was secretary of the Marathon County Council of Defense. He was also associated with the Wisconsin Press Association and the Marathon County
Agricultural Society. Thayer was very interested in Marathon County history. By virtue of his arrival in Wausau in 1854 he was a member of the Old Settlers' Club. He was also a member of the Marathon County Historical Society. As part of his historical interest he collected papers of early settlers which he presented to the city of Wausau, interviewed many pioneers, and wrote numerous articles on local history for his own paper.
Thayer married Delia F. Gooding in 1879 and the couple had three children. Several years prior to his father's death on August 5, 1931, E.B. Thayer Jr., took over as editor of the paper and as manager of the Pilot Printing Company. In 1940 he sold the newspaper which was merged with the Wausau Herald, although staying on as manager of the printing company. In addition to their mutual interest in the newspaper business, the younger Thayer shared his father's active interest in local history. He died in 1964.
