In 1838, at the age of 20, James Cook Ayer started working as a clerk at Jacob Robbins' Apothecary Shop in Ledyard, Conn. He worked there for three years, learning the trade and studying chemistry as well. During this time, he studied the material prescribed by the Harvard College curriculum. He also studied medicine under Dr. Samuel L. Dana of Lowell Mass. He apparently became so familiar with pharmaceutical chemistry and medicine that later the University of Pennsylvania awarded him with the Degree "Doctor of Medicine."
In 1841 with the assistance of his uncle (James Cook) he bought the Robbins' Drug Store and began to sell his own home remedies. He was very successful with his line of family remedies and paid off the store in 3 years. He eventually became a very rich man, owning his own factories as well as diversified investments like Sawmills in Florida and Iron Mines in Michigan. In 1871 Groton Junction was renamed "Ayer" in his honor. After he died in 1878, the business was run by Frederick Ayer for a while. The business stayed in the family until 1888, when it was finally bought out by Sterling Products Inc.
Ayer distributed free farmers almanacs annually through his retailers. They advertised his products and discussed all the diseases they cured (pretty much anything). He distributed as many as 5 million of these in a year. I am working on a separate work that will put all these almanacs on a CD.