Nathan Ayer, second, who was born in 1771 and died in 1853, was a farmer in comfortable circumstances. His wife, Nancy, to whom he was married in 1816, was born in Rhode Island in 1798, daughter of Peter Green, who came to Preston in 1800. Mr. Green, a well-to-do farmer, was prominently connected with the public affairs of the town. He was buried in Long Society Burial-ground. Mrs. Nancy Ayer died in 1857. Of her eight children seven reached maturity. Nancy, the eldest, who married Henry Gallup, died at the age of thirty in Greenville; Desire, who died in this town in middle life, leaving three children, was the wife of Kussel Davis; Sarah, the widow of George W. Cook and now living in Kansas, is the mother of six children; Abby, who lives in Marlboro, Mass., is the widow of William S. Cundall, and has two daughters; Harriet, who married Henry Albro, died in middle life, leaving three children; John Ayer died in Kansas in 1892.

Nathan II. Ayer received his education in the common schools and at a private school in Meriden, Conn., which he attended for three years. At the age of twelve years he began to work out as a farm hand, receiving five dollars per month for his first summer, six dollars for the next, and seven for the third. When nineteen years old he went to South Coventry, Conn., to learn the hatter's trade, and remained there for three years. In 1854 he returned to the farm where he now resides. He owns three hundred acres, mostly farming lands, and carries on general farming and considerable dairying. He keeps about thirty cows of good grade, five horses, and employs a number of men. During the past twenty-six years he has sold the product of his dairy in Norwich, to which he has gone daily for ten years in all kinds of weather.

On August 20, 1854, Mr. Ayer was united in marriage with Adeline J., daughter of Lewis and Jerusha (Moulton) Tinker, of Mansfield, Conn. She died in 1861, leaving her husband with two young children, namely: Alice M., who is now the wife of Dr. George C. Clark, of East Douglas, Mass.; and Louis N., now an ice dealer in Willimantic. In 1862 Mr. Ayer married for his second wife Amelia S. Baldwin, a daughter of Raymond and Amanda Baldwin, of Mansfield. She died in 1871, leaving one son, Frank R. Ayer, now a mechanic in Norwich. In politics Mr. Ayer is a Republican. He served as County Commissioner from July, 1883, to July, 1893, as a member of the legislature in 1886, and as State Senator in 1890 and 1891. He has also been a member of the Board of Relief and on the Grand Jury. In all these positions he manifested due appreciation of the trust reposed in him. Mr. Ayer is one of the best known farmers in the country, and has a large number of acquaintances and friends.