James Ayer is the younger brother of Frederick Ayer. The brothers moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, and lived with their uncle.
Frederick was the younger brother of James C. Ayer and was in business with him, involved in patent medicine.
Frederick Ayer controlled the Tremont and Suffolk Mills. He combined them with many textile operations in Lawrence in 1899 to establish American Woolen Company, which owned 60 mills in New England.
His daughter married George Patton in 1910 and lived in the Ayer Mansion, which was a former Franco-American School.
In addition to textiles, he was involved in other businesses, including serving as a co-founder of the Arctic Coal Company.
Frederick Ayer died in 1918. The monument of Frederick C. Ayer is the tallest monument in the Cemetery.
