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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 Ledyard is a Town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War officer who was killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. The population was 1 ...

and was the son of Frederick Ayer (1792–1825) and Persis Herrick ( Cook) Ayer (1786–1880). His nephew, J.C. Ayer's son, was also Frederick Ayer. Frederick Fanning Ayer, born in 1851, became a lawyer and philanthropist, and was director or stockholder of many corporations.Short Bio on F.F. Ayer, 1914
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Career

Ayer was involved in the patent medicine business, but is better known for his work in the textile industry. After buying the Tremont and Suffolk mills in

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 ...

, he bought up many textile operations in nearby Lawrence, combining them in 1899 into the American Woolen Company, of which he was the first president. He was involved in other businesses of the time as well, such as being the co-founder of the Arctic Coal Company.

Personal life

Ayer's first wife was Cornelia Wheaton (1835–1878), daughter of

Charles Augustus Wheaton Charles Augustus Wheaton (1809–1882) was a businessman and major figure in the central New York state abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad, as well as other progressive causes. He was one of the founders of the First Congregatio ...

and Ellen Birdseye. They married on December 15, 1858 and Cornelia's mother died the following day. The couple had four children: * Ellen Wheaton Ayer (1859–1951), who married American Woolen Company's William Madison Wood. * James Cook Ayer (1862–1939) * Charles Fanning Ayer (1865–1956) *

Louise Raynor Ayer Louise Ayer Hatheway (1876-1955) was a philanthropist, heiress and "genteel farmer" who founded Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Louise Raynor Ayer was born in 1876 to Cornelia Wheaton and Frederick Ayer, a founder of t ...

(1876–1955). After Cornelia's death, Ayer married Ellen Barrows Banning (1853–1918) in 1884. They had three children: * Beatrice Banning Ayer (1886–1953), who married future

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

general

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

. * Frederick Ayer (1888–1969) * Mary Katherine "Kay" Ayer (1890–1981). He died on March 14, 1918, in Thomasville, Georgia, and is interred at

Lowell Cemetery Lowell Cemetery is a cemetery located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Founded in 1841 and located on the banks of the Concord River, the cemetery is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the nation, inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, M ...

. His home in Lowell is now the Franco American School, a Catholic school, and the

Frederick Ayer Mansion The Frederick Ayer Mansion is a National Historic Landmark on 395 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The mansion was the home of Frederick Ayer, owner of the American Woolen Company, and features well ...

on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts is a National Historic Landmark.

References

External links

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Archives and records

Tremont & Suffolk Mills records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayer, Frederick American manufacturing businesspeople Businesspeople from Massachusetts Lawrence, Massachusetts 1822 births 1918 deaths People of the Industrial Revolution American textile industry businesspeople People from Lowell, Massachusetts American Woolen Company People from Ledyard, Connecticut 19th-century American businesspeople