{{short description|American businessman (1822–1918)}} {{about|the businessman (1822–1918)|the government official (1915–1974)|Frederick Ayer Jr.| the missionary (died 1867) |Frederick Ayer (missionary)}} {{More citations needed|date=November 2019}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Use American English|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Frederick Ayer | image = Frederick-Ayer.jpg | alt = Frederick Ayer | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1822|12|08}} | birth_place = Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1918|03|14|1822|12|08}} | death_place = Thomasville, Georgia, U.S. | spouse = {{ublist | {{marriage|Cornelia Wheaton|1858|1878|end=died}} | {{marriage|Ellen Barrows Banning|1884|end=died}}}} | children = 7 | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | occupation = Businessman | relatives = James Cook Ayer (brother)<br > George S. Patton (son-in-law) <br > George S. Patton IV (grandson)<br />Mark Gordon (great-grandson)<br>Frederick Ayer Jr. (grandson) | signature = Frederick Ayer (signature).jpg | signature_alt = Frederick Ayer Signature }} right|thumb|Advert for Ayers Cherry Pectoralthumb|Ayer Mill, Lawrence, Massachusetts, named for Frederick.
'''Frederick Ayer''' (December 8, 1822 – March 14, 1918) was an American businessman and the younger brother of patent medicine tycoon James Cook Ayer.
==Early life== Ayer was born on December 8, 1822, in Ledyard, Connecticut, and was the son of Frederick Ayer (1792–1825) and Persis Herrick ({{nee}} Cook) Ayer (1786–1880).<ref name="FAObit1918"/>
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.<ref name="ff_ayer">[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mabiog/Middlesex_County/ayerfredrickf.htm Short Bio on F.F. Ayer, 1914]</ref>
==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, 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.<ref name="FAObit1918"/>
==Personal life== Ayer's first wife was Cornelia Wheaton (1835–1878), daughter of Charles Augustus Wheaton and Ellen Birdseye. They married on December 15, 1858, and Cornelia's mother died the following day. The couple had four children:<ref name="FAObit1918"/>
* Ellen Wheaton Ayer (1859–1951),<ref name="EWAWObit1951">{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=MRS. WILLIAM M. WOOD |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/07/07/archives/mrs-william-m-wood.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=7 July 1951}}</ref> who married American Woolen Company's William Madison Wood.<ref name="WMWFuneral1926">{{cite news |title=FUNERAL OF W. M. WOOD TO BE HELD SUNDAY; Burial of Former Woolen Company Head to Take Place at Andover, Mass. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/04/archives/funeral-of-w-m-wood-to-be-held-sunday-burial-of-former-woolen.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=4 February 1926}}</ref> * James Cook Ayer (1862–1939)<ref name="JCAObit1939">{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/03/23/archives/obituary-6-no-title.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=23 March 1939}}</ref> * Charles Fanning Ayer (1865–1956)<ref name="CFAObit1956">{{cite news |title=CHARLES F. AYER |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/16/archives/obituary-5-no-title.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=16 January 1956}}</ref> * Louise Raynor Ayer (1876–1955).
After Cornelia's death, Ayer married Ellen Barrows Banning (1853–1918) in 1884. They had three children:<ref name="FAObit1918"/>
* Beatrice Banning Ayer (1886–1953), who married future World War II general George S. Patton.<ref name="1910Wedding">{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=AYER-PATTON |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/03/13/archives/ayerpatton.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=13 March 1910}}</ref> * Frederick Ayer (1888–1969)<ref name="FAObit1969">{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=FREDERICK AYER, 80, INDUSTRIALIST, DIES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/22/archives/frederick-ayer-80-industrialist-dies.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=22 April 1969}}</ref><ref name="FAObit1974">{{cite news |title=FREDERICK AYER, US, AIDE ABROAD |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/05/archives/frederick-ayer-us-aide-abroad-author-and-exfbi-agent-in-europe-is.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=5 January 1974}}</ref> * Mary Katherine "Kay" Ayer (1890–1981).
He died on March 14, 1918, in Thomasville, Georgia, and is interred at Lowell Cemetery.<ref name="FAObit1918">{{cite news |title=FREDERICK AYER DIES IN GEORGIA AT 95; Boston Millionaire Medicine Manufacturer Was the First President of American Woolen Co. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/03/15/archives/frederick-ayer-dies-in-georgia-at-95-boston-millionaire-medicine.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=15 March 1918}}</ref> His home in Lowell is now the Franco American School, a Catholic school, and the Frederick Ayer Mansion on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts is a National Historic Landmark.<ref name="Moynihan2021">{{cite news |last1=Moynihan |first1=Colin |title=A Rare Tiffany Building Owned by a Nonprofit May Be Sold |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/arts/design/ayer-mansion-tiffany-boston.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=11 May 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}}
*{{cite book |title=Biographical history of Massachusetts: biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, Volume 1 |last=Eliot |first=Samuel Atkins |year=1911 |publisher=Massachusetts Biographical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1S0EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1849}} * {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Ayer, Frederick |volume= 1 |page= 170 |short=}} ==Archives and records== *[http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HBS.Baker.EAD:bak00170 Tremont & Suffolk Mills records] at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.
{{Library resources box |onlinebooks=yes |by=yes |viaf=65683301 |label=Frederick Ayer}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayer, Frederick}} Category:1822 births Category:1918 deaths Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:American businesspeople in manufacturing Category:American businesspeople in the textile industry Category:American Woolen Company Category:Businesspeople from Massachusetts Category:People from Lawrence, Massachusetts Category:Businesspeople from Lowell, Massachusetts Category:People of the American Industrial Revolution Category:People from Ledyard, Connecticut Category:Burials at Lowell Cemetery (Lowell, Massachusetts)