Ayer, George, 1796 - 1891

Colonel George Ayer was born February 12, 1796, the son of Elisha Ayer and Hope Fanning of Preston, Connecticut.   Ayer became a prominent farmer in Ledyard, working his father's lands, which he eventually inherited.  In addition, Ayer was a military officer in the Eighth Regiment of the Connecticut Militia.  As a relatively young man, the Connecticut General Assembly appointed him an overseer of the Indian reservation at Mashantucket, a role he maintained from 1833-1835.  Ayer also interacted with the neighboring Eastern Pequot community. The New London County Court Records indicate that on December 21, 1838, he was reimbursed for boarding Philena, an Eastern Pequot woman. George Ayer died in North Stonington on February 23, 1891.

Find A Grave (Ayer Cemetery, Preston, CT).  Frederick Ayer, The Reminiscences of Frederick Ayer (Boston, MA: Priv. Print.,  1923), 6. Connecticut Register (1825), 92.  Image of Ayer, Reminiscences, from between pp. 6 and 7.  Additional sources for this biography come from the Related Digital Heritage Items listed below.