Francis Ayer
Francis Wayland Ayer (February 4, 1848 – March 5, 1923) was an American advertising businessman.
Francis Ayer | |
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| Born | Francis Wayland Ayer February 4, 1848 Lee, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 5, 1923 (aged 75) Meredith, New York, U.S. |
| Burial place | Laurel Hill Cemetery |
| Occupation | Advertising businessman |
| Spouses | Rhandera Gilman
(m. 1875; died 1914)Martha K. Lawson (m. 1919) |
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Biography
Ayer was born on February 4, 1848, to Nathaniel Wheeler Ayer and Joanna B. Wheeler in Lee, Massachusetts, though he was raised in western New York.[1] 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 before moving to Philadelphia. 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.[1][2] Besides himself, he began with only a bookkeeper and US$25.
In 1873 his father Nathaniel died. Two years later, May 5, 1875, he married his first wife, Rhandera Gilman. They had two daughters together.[3] That same year he introduced the "open contract".
In 1914 his first wife died, and five years later he remarried to Martha K. Lawson, on April 21, 1919.[3]
Francis Ayer died from pneumonia at his country home at Meredith, New York on March 5, 1923, and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.[4]
References
- Jordan, John W., ed. (1921). Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, Illustrated. Vol. XIII. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 237. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Fox, Stephen R. (1997). The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and Its Creators. University of Illinois Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780252066597. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Jordan, John W., ed. (1921). Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, Illustrated. Vol. XIII. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 243. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
- "Pneumonia Fatal to Wayland Ayer, Ill For a Week". Camden Post-Telegram. March 6, 1923. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved June 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders A-G. Greenwook Publishing Group, 1983. ISBN 0-313-21362-3 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.