The Lowell Cemetery is a non-municipal and non-denominational cemetery.
77 Knapp Ave, Lowell, MA 01852 | 978-454-5191
James Cook Ayer was born in Groton, Connecticut, on May 5, 1818. He was the brother of Frederick Ayer. At the age of thirteen, he moved to Lowell and resided with his uncle.
His education was obtained at the public schools, where he was once a classmate of General Butler, and subsequently at Westford Academy, after which he was apprenticed to James C. Robbins, a druggist in Lowell. While there, he studied medicine and later graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He never practiced, but devoted his principal attention to pharmaceutical chemistry and the compounding of medicines. His success in this line was significant.
He established 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 million. Much of his success was due to his advertising, and he published an annual almanac, 5,000,000 copies of which were gratuitously distributed. Editions in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish were regularly issued.
In 1874, James Ayer accepted the Republican nomination for Congress in the 7th Massachusetts District, but was defeated.
Anxiety and care brought about a brain difficulty, and for some time before his death, James was confined in an asylum. He died in Winchendon, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1878
