The Classics-Loving Farmer
Thomas Ayer was born in 1796 in Plainstow, New Hampshire. He spent his youth in Plainstow and matriculated at Bowdoin at the age of 24. This made him the oldest member of the Class of 1825, since most of his peers started college between the ages of 15 and 18. His first year he boarded at the home of J. Perry, Esq. He spent his sophomore year at the home of Capt. McLellan’s, along with James Ware Bradbury, Gorham Deane, and Patrick Henry Greenleaf. Junior and senior years Ayer roomed with Joseph Eveleth in Maine Hall and Winthrop Hall. Since it was rather unusual to live with a person for multiple years, this suggests that Eveleth and Ayer were close. Ayer was also a member of the Peucinian Society. Ayer’s professors thought he was a very good student, and he did especially well in Latin, Greek, and clerical studies. He delivered speeches at multiple Class Exhibitions on the topic of classical literature. Despite his academic talent and passion for the clergy, he was sometimes fined by the Executive Government for being absent from prayers or his recitations. Still, Ayer graduated thirteenth in his class and gave a dissertation at Commencement entitled, “Character and Influence of the Druids.”
After graduating, Ayer decided to pursue his clerical passions. He traveled to Winthrop, Maine, to study theology with a deacon there. In 1828, he moved to Albany, New York, and became a minister with a parish. In 1833, Ayer moved to Litchfield, Maine, where he ran a small farm and helped prepare boys for college; he also served as a clerk for the Litchfield Congregation Church. In leisure time he enjoyed smoking and reading the classics. Ayer married a woman named Hepsibah Smith, who ran the Sabbath School at their church. The pair had three children. After 33 years of running his Litchfield farm, Ayer died in 1867 of unknown causes. He was 75 years old.