From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, 
publ. 1912 - Pages 648 - 650
 
HENRY WILLIAM AYERS.  It is the custom with many farmers, even in this day of 
known advantage of putting all corn and hay raised on a farm into stock, to 
sell the grain which they raised and only deal to a limited extent in live 
stock.  Time has shown that this course is unwise, and those farmers who still 
stick to that obsolete custom are the losers.  It is found that the best 
results are obtained from making the sale of live stock the first 
consideration, and it is not necessary to point out that most of the successful 
farmers have adopted long ago this practice.  Aside from the improvement of the 
farm and perhaps the dealings in farms, it is probably the fact that the great 
majority of the wealthiest farmers have obtained all or nearly all their wealth 
from dealing in live stock.  One of the leading stock men of Walworth county is 
Henry William AYERS, whose fine cattle have carried his name to remote sections 
of the country, and which are greatly admired, owning to their superior 
quality, wherever they are exhibited.  It would be hard to find a better judge 
of the bovine family than Mr. AYERS.
 
The subject was born in Rochester, Racine county, Wisconsin, July 23, 1855.  He 
is the son of Maurice L. and Lutheria (AKIN) AYERS, the father a native of 
Monroe county, New York, and the mother of Vermont, his birth having occurred 
in 1819 and hers in 1826.  The father came to Rochester, Racine county, 
Wisconsin, in 1839, thence to the town of Burlington, that county, where he 
kept a hotel, then returned to farming, which had been his occupation in his 
early life.  He owned one hundred and sixty acres near Rochester which is still 
in possession of the family, where his son Edward now lives.  Maurice L. AYERS 
came to Spring Prairie township, Walworth county, in 1857, and purchased the 
farm now owned by the subject of this sketch, consisting of three hundred and 
three acres of as valuable land as the township affords, and here he became one 
of the substantial and influential farmers of the locality, developed a fine 
farm and established a pleasant home, and here he spent the remainder of his 
life, dying in 1884, his widow surviving until 1897.  They were the parents of 
seven children, four of whom are living.  Politically, he as a Democrat and was 
active in political affairs, representing his locality in the General Assembly 
in 1849, making a splendid record.  He is remembered as a man of many sterling 
characteristics and he enjoyed the good will and respect of all who know him.
 
Henry William AYERS, of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, where he made 
himself useful during his boyhood days and he was educated in the public 
schools of his home community.  Early in life he turned his attention to 
farming and he now owns the homestead of three hundred and three acres and for 
twenty years he has been a breeder of fine live stock.  He has kept the place 
well improved and well tilled, adopting all the modern methods of agriculture 
and everything shows thrift, good management and prosperity.  He built a large, 
convenient barn some time ago and has kept the buildings in good shape.  He 
farms on an extensive scale, but the breeding of Brown Swiss cattle is his 
specialty.  He now has a herd of eighty, all registered, of which there is no 
finer in the state, and owning to their superior qualities they find a very 
ready market whenever offered for sale.  He has been a frequent exhibitor at 
the state fair and other fairs, and his stock are favorites everywhere they are 
shown.  Mr. AYERS also makes a specialty of dairying, and is exceptionally well 
equipped for this line of endeavor.  He has taken many ribbons at the various 
state fairs where he has had his fine cattle.
 
Politically Mr. AYERS is a Democrat, and fraternally is a member of the Modern 
Woodmen of America.
 
Mr. AYERS has never married.  Personally he is a man of pleasing presence, 
straightforward in his relations with his fellows, a good mixer and a kind 
business man, but plain and unassuming in all relations of life.

Submitted By:  Carol
(carolann612@charter.net)