Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/86

64 wounded at the battle of Bull Run and brevetted for gallantry in that action, and was present at the siege of Yorktown, and the battles of Gaines's Mills, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, and Gettysburg, besides many of the minor engagements in Virginia throughout the civil war. He was brevetted colonel for gallantry, and commanded a brigade, and at times a division in the army of the Potomac, and in the operation before Petersburg in 1864. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers for his conduct at the capture of Fort Fisher, 13 March, 1865, and brevetted major-general, U. S. army, for &ldquo;gallant and meritorious conduct in the field during the rebellion,&rdquo; and on 30 April, 1866, mustered out of the volunteer service. On 28 July, 1866, he was promoted to the full rank of lieutenant-colonel, 24th infantry. On 15 July, 1868, he was appointed provisional governor of Mississippi, under acts of congress providing for such temporary government, and on 17 March, 1869, his command extended to include the 4th military district. The lately insurrectionary states were at the time divided into five such districts, each with a general officer in command, and a military force at his disposal. Mississippi was among the last of the states to comply with the conditions of reconstruction, and in the interval the community drifted into a state bordering upon anarchy, the provisional governor at times interfering in the interest of order. Under his direction an election was held 30 Nov., 1869, and on 11 Jan., 1870, the legislature was convened by his direction. Gen. Ames was elected U. S. senator for the unexpired term from 4 March, 1869. In 1873 he was chosen governor of Mississippi by a popular vote, and resigned his seat in the senate. His administration was so repugnant to the democrats &mdash; or, in other words, to the white population &mdash; that between them and the republicans, mostly blacks, a feeling of hostility arose, so bitter that it culminated in a serious riot in Vicksburg, 7 Dec., 1873, and this was followed by atrocities all over the state, consisting for the most part in the punishment, often in the murder, of obnoxious republicans, white and black. The civil officers were unable to enforce the laws, and Gov. Ames appealed to the general government for aid. Upon this, despatches of the most contradictory character were forwarded to Washington by the opposing parties, and, pending an investigation by congress, affairs were in a deplorable state of disorganization. An election held in November resulted in a general defeat of the republicans, both branches of the legislature becoming distinctly democratic. Gov. Ames held that this election was largely carried by intimidation and fraud, and vainly sought to secure congressional interference. Soon after the legislature convened in January, 1876, articles of impeachment were prepared against all the executive officers, and, pending the trials, the machinery of state government was nearly at a standstill. Gov. Ames, seeing that conviction was inevitable, offered through his counsel to resign, provided the articles of impeachment were withdrawn. This was done, and he resigned at once and settled in Minnesota. Later he removed to Lowell, Mass.

AMES, Edward Raymond, bishop, b. in Athens, Ohio, 20 May, 1806; d. in Baltimore, 25 April, 1879. He studied for two years at the Ohio State University, and m 1828 opened a high school at Lebanon, Ill., which in time grew into McKendree College, Here he remained until 1830, when he joined the Indiana Methodist Episcopal conference and became an itinerant minister. At the general conference for 1840 he was chosen corresponding secretary of the missionary society, and rode through the South and West and among the Indian tribes, a distance of more than 25,000 miles. He was a presiding elder from 1844 to 1852, and was then chosen bishop. He was the first Methodist bishop to visit the Pacific coast. During the civil war he rendered important service as a member of several commissions.

AMES, Fisher, statesman, b. in Dedham, Mass., 9 April, 1758 ; d. there. 4 July, 1808. His father, a physician, died when Fisher was but six years old, but his mother resolved, in spite of her limited income, to give the boy a classical education. At the age of six he began the study of Latin, and at the age of twelve he was sent to Harvard, where he was graduated in 1774. Owing to his extreme youth and the straitened circumstances of the family, he was obliged to spend some years in teaching before studying law, and during this period he devoted himself with indefatigable zeal to sell-culture. Often in after-life he spoke of the ravenous appetite with which he had devoured the books within his reach. He read the leading English poets, dwelling for hours on their beauties, and fixing the most striking passages in his memory. He admired Virgil, and could repeat considerable portions of the Eclogues and Georgics, and most of the fine passages of the ^neid. He was a profound student of the Scriptixres, and declared that no man could become truly eloquent "without being a constant reader of the Bible and an admirer of the purity and sid)limity of its language." Mr, Ames studied law in the office of William Tudor, and began practice in his native village in 1781. His abilities were first made known by several political essays, contributed to Boston journals under the signatures of "Brutus" and "Camillus." In 1788 he was elected representative in the state legislature, where he distinguished himself so highly that he was elected to the convention that met in Massachusetts the same year to ratify the federal constitution. In this convention he urged the adoption of the constitution, and made also a speech on biennial elections, which manifested extraordinary eloquence and power. Joining the federal party, he was elected to congress in December of the same year for the district that then included Boston. He served in congress for eight years, supporting Washington's administration, and when upon Washington's retirement congress voted an address to him, Mr. Ames was chosen to pronounce it. On 28 April, 1796, Mr. Ames advocated the appropriation required for the execution of Jay's treaty with Great' Britain m the most eloquent and powerful speech of his life. A member of the opposition objected to the taking of a vote at that time, on the ground that the house was too excited to come to a just decision. Declining health now compelled Mr. Ames to withdraw from public life, and he returned to his farm ni Dedham. In 1798 he wrote "Laocoon" and other essays to rouse the federalists to more strenuous opposition to the ag