James Joseph Ayers

{{Short description|Scottish-American politician (1830–1897)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Joseph Ayers | image = Colonel J. J. Ayers Crop.jpg | caption = | office1 = California State Printer | appointer1 = George Stoneman | term_start1 = January 10, 1883 | term_end1 = January 13, 1887 | predecessor1 = John D. Young | successor1 = Philip A. Shuaff | office2 = Delegate to the Second Constitutional Convention of California | term_start2 = September 28, 1878 | term_end2 = March 3, 1879 | predecessor2 = ''Office established'' | successor2 = ''Office abolished'' | constituency2 = 4th congressional district | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1830|08|27}} | birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1897|11|12|1830|08|27}} | death_place = Azusa, California, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | known_for = Co-founding the ''San Francisco Call'' and the ''Los Angeles Express'' | education = | alma mater = | employer = | occupation = Pioneer, printer, publisher, editor, politician | party = Democratic | other_party = Non-Partisan {{small|(1878)}}<br />Workingmen's {{small|(1879)}} | boards = | spouse = {{marriage|Mary O'Brien|1855|1869|end=died}}<br />{{marriage|Charlotte Slater|12 May 1884}} | children = | parents = | relatives = | nickname = "Colonel" }} '''James Joseph Ayers''' (August 27, 1830 – November 12, 1897) was a Scottish American pioneer, newspaperman and politician who served one term as California State Printer from 1883 to 1887.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.norcalmediamuseum.org/?page_id=2119 |title=James Joseph Ayers |last=Berry |first=Ken |date= |website=Media Museum of Northern California |publisher= |access-date=6 October 2024 |quote=}}</ref> He co-founded several early newspapers in California, including the ''San Francisco Call'' and the ''Los Angeles Express''.<ref name=pioneer>{{cite news |author= |date=13 November 1897 |title=Pioneer gone |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH18971113.2.117&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22James+Joseph+Ayers%22------- |work=Los Angeles Herald |location=Los Angeles |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref>

[[File:James J. Ayers or Ayres, California printer, 1897.jpg|thumb|left|Ayers as depicted in an 1897 ''San Francisco Call'' article commemorating the paper's forty-first anniversary]]

In 1878, he was elected a delegate to California's Second Constitutional Convention on a Non-Partisan ticket,<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=22 June 1878 |title=Later election returns |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU18780622.2.8&srpos=3&e=------187-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Workingmen%27s%22+Ayers----1878--- |work=San Diego Union and Daily Bee |location=San Diego |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref> representing Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vivian |first1=T. J. |last2=Waldron |first2=D. G. |author-link= |date=1878 |title=Biographical sketches of the delegates to the convention to frame a new constitution for the State of California, 1878 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ia.ark:/13960/t58d7xg97&seq=105&q1=ayers&view=1up |location=San Francisco |publisher=Francis & Valentine |page=99 |isbn=}}</ref> The next year, he was the Workingmen's Party nominee for Congress in the 4th district,<ref>{{cite news |title=Candidate for Congress on the Stump |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1233335225/?match=1&terms=%22James%20J.%20Ayers%22 |access-date=18 November 2025 |work=The Morning Call |date=23 July 1879 |location=San Francisco}}</ref> coming in third place behind Democrat R. Wallace Leach and Republican Romualdo Pacheco.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/7014 |title=James J. Ayers |author= |date= |website=JoinCalifornia |publisher= |access-date=6 October 2024 |quote=}}</ref> In the 1882 California gubernatorial election, Ayers campaigned vigorously for Democratic candidate George Stoneman, who appointed him State Printer after his victory.<ref name=pioneer/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite news |title=W. P. C. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1233335013/?match=1&terms=%22James%20Joseph%20Ayers%22 |access-date=18 November 2025 |work=The Morning Call |date=6 June 1879 |location=San Francisco}}

==External links== *[https://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/7014 Join California James J. Ayers] *[https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Workingmen%E2%80%99s_Party_%26_The_Denis_Kearney_Agitation The Workingmen’s Party & The Denis Kearney Agitation]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, James Joseph}} Category:1830 births Category:1897 deaths Category:19th-century California politicians Category:California Democrats Category:Workingmen's Party of California people Category:20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Category:People of the California Gold Rush Category:People from Glasgow