James Cook Ayer (May 5, 1818 – July 3, 1878) was the wealthiest

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

businessman of his day.

Early life

James Cook Ayer was born in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London i ...

on May 5, 1818, the son of Frederick Ayer (1792-1825) and Persis Herrick Cook (1786-1880). After his mother remarried, James Ayer and his brother

Frederick Ayer Frederick Ayer (December 8, 1822 – March 14, 1918) was an American businessman and the younger brother of patent medicine tycoon Dr. James Cook Ayer. Early life Ayer was born on December 8, 1822 in Ledyard, Connecticut and was the son of ...

moved to

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

and lived with his uncle, James Cook. He attended Lowell High School in 1838, after which he was apprenticed to James C. Robbins, a druggist in Lowell. While there he studied medicine, and later he graduated from the medical school of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Career

Ayer never practiced medicine, but devoted his principal attention to

pharmaceutical chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developme ...

and the compounding of medicines. His success in this line was very great, and soon led him to establish a factory in Lowell for the manufacture of his medicinal preparations, which became one of the largest of its kind in the world, and was magnificently equipped. He accumulated a fortune estimated at $20,000,000. Much of his success was due to his advertising, on which he spent $140,000 a year, and he annually published an

almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...

, distributing 5,000,000 copies each year. Editions in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, were regularly issued. In 1874 he accepted the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in the 7th Massachusetts District, but was defeated. In addition to his patent medicine business, Dr. Ayer was involved in textile production in

with his brother.

Personal life

His son, Frederick Fanning Ayer, born 1851, became a lawyer and philanthropist, and was director or stockholder of many corporations.Short Bio on F.F. Ayer, 1914
/ref> He died in an insane asylum on July 3, 1878 and is interred at Lowell Cemetery.

Legacy

The monument at Ayer's gravesite, a life-size marble lion sculpted by

Albert Bruce-Joy Albert Bruce-Joy (21 August 1842 – 22 July 1924) was an Irish sculptor working in England. His original surname was Joy but he became known under his hyphenated name Bruce-Joy later in life. He was the brother of the painter George W. Joy. ...

, is one of the best known at Lowell Cemetery. The town of Ayer, Mass., was named after him.

Gallery

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References

External links

Article about Dr Ayer

With more information about his products and life. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayer, James Cook American manufacturing businesspeople Businesspeople from Massachusetts Ayer, Massachusetts 1818 births 1878 deaths People of the Industrial Revolution Patent medicine businesspeople People from Groton, Connecticut People from Lowell, Massachusetts Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Deaths in mental institutions 19th-century American businesspeople