Thomas Mayo Brewer was born in
Boston, the younger brother of noted Boston merchant
Gardner Brewer. He graduated from
Harvard College in 1835 and from
Harvard Medical School three years later. His interest in ornithology was such that he was elected a member of the
Boston Society of Natural History in 1835. He abandoned his career as a doctor after a few years to concentrate on ornithology, writing and politics, later becoming editor of the
Boston Atlas in 1840. He was a friend of
John James Audubon in that ornithologist's later life. In 1849, Brewer was placed in charge of the oological department for the Boston Society of Natural History. Brewer continued working as a publisher while working as an ornithologist. He joined the publishing firm of Hickling, Swan & Brown, which became Hickling, Swan & Brewer when he became a partner in 1857; this firm subsequently became Swan, Brewer & Tileston. As an editor, he published
Alexander Wilson's "Birds of America". In 1857, Brewer completed his first of several volumes of
North American Oology. However, Brewer is best known as a joint author, with
Spencer Fullerton Baird and
Robert Ridgway, of
A History of North American Birds (3 volumes, 1874), which was the first attempt since
John James Audubon's (thirty years prior) to complete the study of American
ornithology. Brewer also contributed to a number of ornithological publications, including
John James Audubon's
Ornithological Biography. Brewer was a companion to Audubon, who gave Brewer's name to a
duck,
a blackbird, and a
mole found in
Martha's vineyard. In his last decade of life, Brewer sparred with
Elliott Coues over the fate of the
House Sparrow, a recently introduced bird that was multiplying far faster than expected. While Coues and most ornithologists were in favor of killing many of them off, Brewer tried to defend them. This ornithological event is known as "The Sparrow War." Brewer died in Boston on January 24, 1880, while the fate of the sparrow was still being debated. ==Personal life==