John F. Boyer, born in 1824, was a merchant, banker, trustee, treasurer, and active community member of Walla Walla, Washington. After living in several different locations across the United States including Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, and California, he settled in Walla Walla in 1862 with his wife, Sarah E. Baker. There, he worked with Dr. D. S. Baker, Sarah Baker’s brother, in the mercantile business before the pair decided to open Baker Boyer Bank in 1869. Boyer served as the president of the bank until his death in 1897. Additionally, Boyer was the Walla Walla county treasurer for 12 years, an involved member of the Episcopal Church, and a trustee for Whitman College for 30 years. He was also the Whitman Board of Trustees treasurer for a short while before becoming its president a few months before his death. He had seven children: Charles S., Franklin D., Arthur A., Eugene H., John Edward, Annie I. Norton, and Imogen.