ELIZABETH T. AYER:

Elizabeth Taylor Ayer was born in Massachusetts in 1803. Frederick Ayer was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts that same year. Elizabeth went to Mackinac, Michigan in 1828 as a missionary teacher among Ojibwe Indians. She was there married to missionary Frederick Ayer in 1831 and the two traveled in 1832 to Sandy Lake, Minnesota, where they opened a school for the Ojibwe, the first such school opened in what later became Minnesota. They went on to open another such school at Pokegama, Minnesota, in 1836, and another in the 1840s in Belle Prairie. Frederick was later ordained a Presbyterian minister and worked in the Minnesota Chippewa Agency, 1861-1865, following which they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they worked as teaching missionaries to African American freedmen. Frederick died in Atlanta in 1867, whereupon Elizabeth returned to Minnesota and lived with her son in Belle Prairie until her death in 1898.

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Letters, biographical sketches, and other papers documenting the work of Presbyterian missionaries and teachers Frederick and Elizabeth Ayer, especially their work among Ojibwe Indians in northern Minnesota.

The microfilm reel contains 13 letters written by Ayer to her brother, Jonathan H. Taylor. She reminisces on her early family life and incidents in her missionary and teaching career at the Ojibwe mission at Pokegama (Pine County, Minn.) and at Belle Prairie (Morrison County, Minn.). The microfilm is supplemented by a few additional reminiscent letters and a biographical sketch of her husband Frederick.

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Chronological, within each section.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Source of Originals:

Originals of the microfilm were loaned by Emma R. Taylor, Avon, Illinois.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Elizabeth T. Ayer Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 1764A7; 1767E1; 5847

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, August 1996

Catalog ID number: 990017319680104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Schools -- Minnesota.

Education -- Minnesota -- Belle Prairie.

Indians of North America -- Missions.

Missions -- Minnesota -- Belle Prairie.

Missions -- Minnesota -- Educational work.

Missions -- Minnesota -- Pokegama.

Ojibwa Indians -- Missions -- Minnesota.

Presbyterian Church -- Minnesota -- Missions.

Persons:

Ayer, Frederick, 1803-1867.

Taylor, Jonathan H.

Places:

Belle Prairie (Minn.).

Pokegama (Pine County, Minn.).

Occupations:

Missionaries.

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