Ayres, John H.

John H. Ayres was born in Paris, KY, and moved to Cincinnati, OH, in 1891. He was the business manager of the National Chronicle newspaper in Winchester, KY, and was recognized for his singing talent at the Wehrman Avenue Christian Church in Cincinnati [source: Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, by W. P. Dabney]. He is most remembered for his work with the United Brothers of Friendship (U. B. F.). Ayres was a National Grand Camp Officer, N. K. C., Cincinnati, OH [source: History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr., p. 131]. In 1896, at the U. B. F. Lodge Meeting, J. H. Ayres was elected State Grand Master and Deputy Grand National Knight Commander with special jurisdiction over Ohio [source: "U. B. F. Lodge Meeting," Freeman, 08/15/1896, p. 6]. Ayres organized the U. B. F. in Cleveland, OH, in 1898, with H. C. Jackson as head of the lodge [source: "News/Opinion," Cleveland Gazette, 02/12/1898, p. 3]. John Ayres was employed as a janitor, and he and his wife, Maggie L. Ayres (b. 1862 in KY), are listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. They were the parents of Jane C. Ayres, born 1896 in Kentucky. In the 1910 Census, the family of three lived on Gilbert Avenue, and J. H. Ayres was a porter at the post office. By 1930, Maggie and John Ayres were living on Kerper Avenue. See also "Phyllis Wheatley Literary," Freeman, 05/02/1896, p. 8.