Francis Wayland Ayer (February 4, 1848March 5, 1923) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

advertising businessman. Ayer was born to Nathaniel Wheeler Ayer and Joanna B. Wheeler in

Lee, Massachusetts Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is p ...

, though he was raised in western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Ayer's mother died when he was three years old, and his father remarried Harriett Amanda Post. Ayer taught in district schools and spent one year studying at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

before moving to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. There he was hired by a religious newspaper for the position of an advertising solicitor, but by 1867 he founded the company, N. W. Ayer & Son, which he named after his father to give a degree of longevity and credibility to the business (Fox, 1984). Besides himself, he began with only a bookkeeper and US$25. In 1873 his father Nathaniel died. Two years later he married his first wife, Rhandera Gilman. That same year he introduced the "open contract". In 1914 his first wife died, and five years later he remarried Martha K. Lawson.

References

*Ingham, John N. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders A-G''. Greenwook Publishing Group, 1983. p. 31-32 * 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

External links

Biography at the Center for Interactive Advertising
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayer, Francis 1848 births 1923 deaths People from Lee, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople American advertising executives