Advanced +

Ayers, Edythe (1875–1941)

By Ashlee Chism

×

Ashlee Chism, MSI. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), currently coordinates the archival collections for the General Conference Archives as the Research Center Manager in the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research.

First Published: October 7, 2024

Audio

Edythe Ayers was a proofreader and copy editor who worked at the Review and Herald Publishing Association and then at the Pacific Press Publishing Association between 1906 and 1941.

Early Life

Edythe Albertha Ayers was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada on April 11, 1875, the eldest daughter of Lewis Parke (1845-1939) and Mary Charlotte (Chalmers) Ayers (1847-1902). She was soon joined by her younger siblings, John William (1880-1961) and Frances Margaret (1889-1982). Ayers became a Seventh-day Adventist around 1897 and briefly attended Battle Creek College around this time.1

Career

Between 1899 and 1901, Ayers worked as a proofreader in Ontario, Canada.2 Ayers then assisted with teaching at the Battle Creek Industrial Academy in Battle Creek, Michigan.3 In 1904, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she eventually connected with the Review and Herald Publishing Association and worked as a proofreader.4

On May 6, 1908, the General Conference Committee voted to send “Miss Edythe Ayers, of the Review and Herald proof-room” to India.5 In mid-October 1908, Ayers, along with Belle Shryock, sailed from New York to England, bound for India.6 She was stationed with the Enoch family in what is now Pune, India.7 There she began to study the Maranthi language.8

While in India, Ayers became friends with Bertha King (1882-1965). Their friendship was of such note that the writer of her obituary noted that Miss King had “for a third of a century now…been more than a sister to [Ayers] and . . . has shared a beautiful companionship down through the years”.9 Their friendship remained close for the rest of their lives.

Ayers and King left India on July 15, 1909, sailing back to the United States.10 Both were employed by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, Ayers as a proofreader and King as a list clerk. At first they lived with the family of Ayers’ younger sister, Frances, until they rented a place to share as housemates.11

In 1920, the General Conference Committee voted to send Ayers back to India to assist in the “publishing house work”, but this call was canceled due to medical reasons.12 Later that year, Ayers was called to move to Mountain View, California to work for the Pacific Press Publishing Association as a proofreader and copy editor. She naturalized as a United States citizen in Santa Clara County in on July 21, 1922.13

During the 1922 General Conference Session, Ayers was one of the assistant editors of the General Conference Bulletin, which was published daily during the Session; under the supervision of managing editors F. D. Nichol and A. O. Tait, Ayers worked with the other assistant editors (Milton C. Wilcox, Arthur W. Spalding, Tyler E. Bowen, Guy Dail, and Adelaide D. Wellman) and the reporting staff (Edson Rogers, Grace D. Mace, Mertie Wheeler, C. L. Rogers, Charles Wolohon, and B. P. Foote) to ensure that delegates and other attendees were well-supplied with news, transcriptions, and minutes of the ongoing proceedings.14

Between 1933 and 1937, Ayers also served on the Publishing Committee of the Pacific Press Publishing Association.15

Ayers worked for the Pacific Press Publishing Association until five weeks before her death, when she fell ill and entered a hospital in San Jose, California, where she died on December 21, 1941, at age sixty-six. Her grave is in Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California.16

Legacy

Ayers’ legacy is not easily measured as records of her work are fairly scarce. In some ways, the mark of good proofreaders and copy editors—which is what the work of her life largely was—is that their work is important, but usually unseen. Still, the anonymous author of Ayers’ obituary perhaps put it best: “[S]he was a most faithful and conscientious worker. The pages of Christian literature that passed through her hands in her years of service as proofreader and copy editor each went forth with her prayers that the revelation of Jesus given thereon might find lodgment and reception in the heart of someone who needed the gospel of the Nazarene.”17 As with many others, Ayers’ legacy is one of faithful commitment to the cause of Christ.

Sources

1901 Census of Canada, accessed via Ancestry.com.

California, U.S., State Court Naturalization Records, 1850-1986 via Ancestry.com.

“Edythe Albertha Ayers.” ARH, January 29, 1942.

Fletcher, W. W. “New Workers Expected.” Eastern Tidings, September 15, 1920.

Fulton, J. E. “New Workers for India.” Eastern Tidings, June 16, 1920.

General Conference Committee minutes, May 6, 1908, 508.

Jewell, H. J. “Progress of the Message in India.” The Youth’s Instructor, May 4, 1909.

Lamson, J. G. “Spring Term at Battle Creek.” West Michigan Herald, April 13, 1904.

Lamson, J. G. “West Michigan Church Schools to Date.” West Michigan Herald, August 3, 1904.

Masthead information, “General Conference Bulletin.” General Conference Bulletin, May 14, 1922.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbooks for 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938.

Shaw, J. L. “Biennial Conference of the India Mission Field.” Eastern Tidings, January 1, 1909.

Spicer, William A. “The Council of the General Conference Committee: Fourth and Last Report.” ARH, May 14, 1908.

Spicer, William A. “To the Fields in 1908.” ARH, January 7, 1909.

St. Thomas City Directory 1899 (Ingersoll; Union Publishing Company). Accessed via Ancestry.com.

United States Federal Census for 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940. Accessed via Ancestry.com.

Unsigned news item. ARH, October 22, 1908.

Unsigned news item. Eastern Tidings, July 15, 1909.

Unsigned minutes, Thirty-second meeting, May 31, 1909, 7:45 PM. General Conference Bulletin, June 2, 1909.

Unsigned editorial note. North Pacific Union Gleaner, November 11, 1908.

Unsigned news item. West Michigan Herald, June 8, 1904.

Unsigned news item. “Battle Creek News.” West Michigan Herald, April 18, 1906.

Notes

  1. “Edythe Albertha Ayers,” ARH, January 29, 1942, 27. Both the 1920 and 1930 United States Federal Censuses state that her entry into the United States was in 1897; this aligns with the details reported in the obituary that she attended Battle Creek College shortly after becoming a Seventh-day Adventist. However, no other extant records appear to capture her time at Battle Creek College.↩

  2. St. Thomas City Directory 1899 (Ingersoll; Union Publishing Company), 4. Accessed via Ancestry.com.; 1901 Census of Canada, accessed via Ancestry.com.↩

  3. J. Grant Lamson, “Spring Term at Battle Creek,” West Michigan Herald, April 13, 1904, 2; Unsigned news note, West Michigan Herald, June 8, 1904, 4.↩

  4. J. G. Lamson, “West Michigan Church Schools to Date,” West Michigan Herald, August 3, 1904, 6; Unsigned news item, “Battle Creek News,” West Michigan Herald, April 18, 1906, 4.↩

  5. W. A. Spicer, “The Council of the General Conference Committee: Fourth and Last Report,” ARH, May 14, 1908, 85:20, 4. See also W. A. Spicer, “To the Fields in 1908,” ARH, January 7, 1909, 86:1, 6, and “Two hundred and eighty-sixth meeting,” General Conference Committee minutes, May 6, 1908, 9 AM, 508, accessed via https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1908.pdf.↩

  6. Unsigned news item, ARH, October 22, 1908, 85:43, 24; Unsigned editorial note, North Pacific Union Gleaner, November 11, 1908, 3:29, 8.↩

  7. H. J. Jewell, “Progress of the Message in India,” The Youth’s Instructor, May 4, 1909, 57:18, 4.↩

  8. J. L. Shaw, “Biennial Conference of the India Mission Field,” Eastern Tidings, January 1, 1909, 3, 6; Thirty-second meeting, May 31, 1909, 7:45 PM. General Conference Bulletin, June 2, 1909, 274.↩

  9. “Edythe Albertha Ayers,” ARH, January 29, 1942, 27.↩

  10. Unsigned news item, Eastern Tidings, July 15, 1909, 6.↩

  11. 1910 United States Federal Census, Wheaton, Montgomery, Maryland; Roll T624_566; Page 3b. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Accessed via ancestry.com; 1920 United States Federal Census, Washington, District of Columbia, Roll T625_213; Page 10B. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Accessed via ancestry.com.↩

  12. J. E. Fulton, “New Workers for India,” Eastern Tidings, June 16, 1920, 8; W. W. Fletcher, “New Workers Expected,” Eastern Tidings, September 15, 1920, 6.↩

  13. California State Archives; Sacramento, California; Film Number: 1455376; Film Description: San Jose County Declaration of Intention, Vol. 7-10. Accessed via California, U.S., State Court Naturalization Records, 1850-1986 on Ancestry.com.↩

  14. “General Conference Bulletin,” General Conference Bulletin, May 14, 1922, 31. See similar information in the other issues from the 1922 General Conference Session.↩

  15. See Seventh-day Adventist Yearbooks for 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938.↩

  16. “Edythe Albertha Ayers,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/269414901/edythe-albertha-ayers.↩

  17. “Edythe Albertha Ayers,” ARH, January 29, 1942, 28.↩

×

Chism, Ashlee. "Ayers, Edythe (1875–1941)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 07, 2024. Accessed February 19, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=6JOZ.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Chism, Ashlee. "Ayers, Edythe (1875–1941)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 07, 2024. Date of access February 19, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=6JOZ.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Chism, Ashlee (2024, October 07). Ayers, Edythe (1875–1941). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 19, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=6JOZ.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File