William John Dyer was born in London, England, in 1841 but emigrated to Faribault, Minnesota, in 1869 where opened a music store with his brother. Two years later, the brothers moved to St. Paul. The Dyer music store grew quickly to become one of the largest west of Chicago and also had music teaching and performance facilities. WJ Dyer & Brothers sold their own line of Dyer branded instruments, although  they were built by other companies. The Dyer range included Symphony brand harp-guitars which were made by Larson.

Source: HarpGuitars.net - Dyer (29 March 2017)