Catalogue Entry

In 1837 this Boston publisher was located at 107 Washington Street and published and sold sheet music with Lane's design for 50 cents.

The business was a partnership of Samuel H. Parker (d. 1864) and Oliver Ditson (1811–88). They went into partnership in 1833/34 and remained in business together until their partnership was dissolved in 1842. Ditson continued as a music printer and publisher and in 1857 he took John C. Haynes as partner in Oliver Ditson & Company. Ditson was one of the most prolific and successful music publishers of the era.

– Catharina Slautterback

Benjamin W. Thayer (1814–75) was a lithographer operating in Boston from 1840–47 and 1851–53. According to an advertisement in the Boston Transcript, Thayer took over 204 Washington Street in 1840, the shop previously run by William S. Pendleton and Moore. Until 1845, he ran B. W. Thayer & Co. in conjunction with his brother-in-law, John H. Bufford, and John E. Moody. In 1846, Thayer left his partnership with Bufford, and opened a fancy goods store at 208 Washington Street, although he still listed himself as a lithographer. After not appearing in the Boston Directory from 1848–49, Thayer is recorded as having reentered his partnership with Bufford at 204 Washington Street and worked there until 1853, when he sold the shop to S. W. Chandler & Co. Thayer & Co. printed sheet music covers, theatrical posters, views of buildings and town views. After his lithography career, Thayer became a wealthy real estate broker and shareholder of multiple newspapers.

This information has been summarized from Boston Lithography 1825–1880 by Sally Pierce and Catharina Slautterback.