The eighth pastor of our church was the Rev. Milan C. Ayres.  In reviewing his accomplishments, it would seem that he performed a prodigious task in preparing himself for the ministry.

The Rev. Mr. Ayres was born in Lewiston, Illinois, in 1850.  His family moved to Kansas when he was 14.  As a boy, he learned shorthand because many people, including his father, thought that it was going to become a necessary part of the equipment of well educated people.  As he was exceptionally skilled in that art, he later collaborated with Isaac and Ben Pitman in the development of modern shorthand.  Even in his later years, he could read without hesitation or difficulty the shorthand notes of his sermons preached here, his final pastorate.  He was one of the first, if not the first, shorthand writers in these parts.

In Kansas he studied for several years at the State College.  He then taught and lectured for five years, at the same time continuing his studies for the ministry.  For four years, he served as pastor of the Missionary Churches of Hamlin and Fairview, Kansas.  He spent three years at Yale Divinity School, while serving at the same time as supply minister at the Congregational Church in Niantic.

After a year of post-graduate work, he was called to this Church.  He finished his course at Yale and obtained a degree.  His wife, the former Georgiana Gall of Montreal, Canada, attended Yale classes with him.  This was in 1881.

During his pastorate here, he was hired from year to year, and the contract was renewed until he saw fit to terminate it.  Undoubtedly, the salary which our church, with others in New England, was able to pay at that time was a great factor in his decision.  He moved to Boston and became a newspaperman.  He later lived in New York and in Washington, D.C., where he died in 1920.

The Ayres, who had nine children, lived on the west side of Woodruff Street, not far from Berlin Avenue, in what was called the "Clark House."