Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/106

AMES.AMMEN. AMES, Oliver, governor of Massachusetts, was born in Easton, Mass., Feb. 4, 1831, son of Oakes and Eveline (Gilmore) Ames. After a public-school and academic education he entered Brown university for a partial course of study. He gained a practical knowledge of all branches of the shovel manufacture, at which he served a full apprenticeship, and he became a member of the firm of Oliver Ames & Sons. He held various offices in the state militia, and was chosen in 1857 lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Massachusetts regiment. He was interested in town affairs, and served for twelve years as a member of the Easton school committee. Mr. Ames enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a business man and financier, and was conspicuous in railroad, banking and manufacturing enterprises, by means of which he acquired a large fortune. In 1880 he was elected to the state senate, and was re-elected to the same position in 1881. In 1882 he was elected lieutenant-governor on the Republican ticket, although the candidate for the governorship on the same ticket was defeated by Gen. B. F. Butler, the opposing candidate. Mr. Ames was re-elected to the same office for three successive years, with George D. Robinson as governor. In 1886 he received on the first ballot the almost unanimous vote of the Republican state convention for governor, was elected, and for the two following years was re-elected to that office, which he worthily filled. He was at one time the president of the Merchants' club of Boston, and he was also president of the Boston art club. Brown university conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1892. During the last year of his life he was engaged in the erection of a high-school building for his native town, which was dedicated Dec. 12, 1896, and which is a monument worthy of the donor. He died at North Easton, Oct. 22, 1895. AMES, Samuel, jurist, was born in Providence, R. I., Sept. 6, 1806. He was educated at Phillips Andover academy, and was graduated from Brown university in 1823. Three years later he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, and became prominent in public affairs. He was a member of the state legislature for several terms, presiding as speaker in 1844-'45. During what is known as the Dorr rebellion of 1842 he acted as quartermaster of the state troops, and in 1853 was elected by the legislature to represent Rhode Island in the adjustment of the boundary between that State and Massachusetts. He held many public offices, and in 1856 was made chief justice of the state supreme court, holding that office until a few weeks before his death. He was a delegate to the peace convention of 1861. He published "Rhode Island Reports" (vols. 4—7); and "Angell and Ames on Corporations." He died Dec. 20, 1865. AMMEN, Daniel, naval officer, was born in Brown county, O., May 15, 1820. In 1836 he was appointed midshipman and served in various squadrons until 1849, when he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant. He was attached to the coast survey on several expeditions, and aided in the selection of a naval station on the Pacific coast in 1853-'54. He served on the steam frigate Merrimac, which, at the outbreak of the civil war, was in the navy yard at Norfolk, Va., and which was seized by the Virginian state authorities in 1861 and rebuilt as an iron-clad for the confederate service. He was made executive officer of the North American blockading squadron, and soon after, at the battle of Port Royal, as commander of the Seneca, he hoisted the stars and stripes over the conquered forts. In 1863 he commanded the monitor Patapsco in the attack on Fort McAllister, and later distinguished himself at Fort Sumter, and, as commander of the Mohican, at Fort Fisher. In 1864 he won especial praise for his prompt suppression of a mutiny which broke out among two hundred and twenty seamen he was convoying to the Pacific squadron, on board the Ocean Queen, a California passenger ship. He was promoted to a captaincy July 26, 1866, raised to the rank of rear-admiral in 1877, and was placed upon the retired list June 4, 1878. He was a delegate to the Paris canal congress, and favored the construction of the Nicaragua canal. He is the author of "The American Interoceanic Ship Canal Question" (1880); "The Atlantic Coast" (1883), one of the series entitled "The Navy in the Civil War"; "Country Homes and their Improvement" (1885); and "The Old Navy and the New" (1891), the last being autobiographical. He died in Washington, D.C., July 11, 1898. AMMEN, Jacob, soldier, was born in Botetourt county, Va., Jan. 7, 1808. He was graduated from West Point in the class of 1831, and was appointed assistant instructor in mathematics and subsequently of infantry tactics at the academy. He was on active duty in Charleston harbor during the nullification troubles in South Carolina, and resigned from the army in 1837, going to Georgetown, Ky., to accept the position of professor of mathematics in Bacon college, afterwards teaching in Jefferson college, Miss., and the University