Oliver Ames | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 35th Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 6, 1887 – January 7, 1890 | |
| Lieutenant | John Q. A. Brackett |
| Preceded by | George D. Robinson |
| Succeeded by | John Q. A. Brackett |
| 33rd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 4, 1883 – January 6, 1887 | |
| Governor | Benjamin F. Butler George D. Robinson |
| Preceded by | Byron Weston |
| Succeeded by | John Q. A. Brackett |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate[1] | |
| In office 1881–1882 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1831-02-04)February 4, 1831 Easton, Massachusetts |
| Died | October 22, 1895(1895-10-22) (aged 64) Easton, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Anna Coffin Ray |
| Children | Oakes Ames |
| Relatives | Ames family |
| Profession | Businessman, investor, philanthropist, politician |
| Signature |  |
Oliver Ames (February 4, 1831 – October 22, 1895) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, andRepublican politician who served as the 35thgovernor of Massachusetts from 1887 to 1890.
Ames's public life was primarily devoted to the vindication of his late fatherOakes Ames, a businessman and U.S. Representative who was censured for his role in the 1873Credit Mobilier scandal and died shortly thereafter. His tenure in office was also marked by a divide within the state over the growingtemperance movement.
Ames was executor of his father's estate, and took over many of his business interests. He was a major philanthropist, especially in his hometown ofEaston, where he secured construction ofa number of architecturally significant works by the architectH.H. Richardson and a number of properties by landscape designerFrederick Law Olmsted.
Oliver Ames was born inEaston, Massachusetts on February 4, 1831 to Eveline Orville (née Gilmore) andOakes Ames.[2] His father was the owner (withhis father andbrother, each also named Oliver) ofAmes Shovel Shop, the largest manufacturer of shovels in the United States.[3]
Ames was educated in the local schools, and then attended private academies inNorth Attleborough andLeicester.[3] He was briefly employed at the family factory before enrolling atBrown University in 1851.[1] He spent three years there in a custom-designed program overseen by university presidentFrancis Wayland.[4]
After leaving Brown, Ames entered the family business, learning all aspects of its manufacturing processes and worked as a traveling salesman.
Ames served in theMassachusetts militia under the4th Massachusetts Regiment, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1857, but resigned before theAmerican Civil War began.[2] During the war, he oversaw the company's manufacturing department, expanding the business and making the manufacturing processes more efficient.[5] The family also invested in railroads and other industrial concerns.[6] Oliver became a partner in the company when his grandfatherOliver Ames Sr. died in 1863.[3]
Oakes and Oliver Ames Jr., Ames's father and uncle, were leading figures in theUnion Pacific Railroad as well as principals in Crédit Mobilier of America, a shell corporation established by Union Pacific insiders to siphon profits from the railroad's construction.[7] While a member of Congress, Oakes Ames sold shares of Crédit Mobiler to other Congressmen well below their estimatedmarket value. When this was exposed in 1872, a congressional committee determined it a bribe for the purpose of influencing railroad legislation. The scandal resulted in Oakes Ames'scensure and he died not long afterward.[8]
Ames inherited his father's fortune, nationwide network of business interests, and $6–8 million in debt related to the scandal. He was also co-executor to his father's estate. Over a period of years, Ames was able to pay off the debts, provide more than $1 million in bequests, and divide the estate amongst the heirs.[9]
In 1875, financierJay Gould gained control of the Union Pacific, while a group of Ames-dominated Boston investors retained control of Crédit Mobilier.[10]
Crédit Mobilier remained mired in legal action related to the scandal, and its shares were a major component of Oakes Ames's estate. The company's only major asset was a $2 million note against UP, and Ames instigated legal action to recover its value.Gould and Union Pacific countersued and conducted ahostile takeover of Crédit Mobilier, ousting Ames from the company's board and discontinuing its lawsuit.[11] Ames launched legal action as a shareholder, and succeeded in forcing CM intoreceivership in 1879 with himself as the receiver.[12] Their legal wrangling largely subsided in 1880, when most of the holdout shareholders were bought out by Gould.[13]
During their fight, Ames sold Gould his controlling interest in theCentral Branch Union Pacific Railroad, a separatepaper railroad chartered to provide service inKansas, at $250 per share.[14] Ames made a large profit on the sale, which Gould purchased in order to assemble the pieces of a full transcontinental rail network under the Union Pacific umbrella.[3][14]
Ames entered public life intent on vindicating his late father's memory.[15] His early political activities included sitting on Easton's School Committee and chairing the localRepublican Party committee.[1]
He was elected to theMassachusetts State Senate in 1879 and saw to the incorporation of the new town ofCottage City, where he owned a summer home.[16][17] He also sat on the committees overseeing railroads and schools.[17] He was re-elected in 1881.[2]
In 1882, Ames was nominated forLieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. Though he won his race, RepublicanRobert R. Bishop lost the gubernatorial election to DemocratBenjamin Butler in a bitterly divisive contest.[18] Ames served from 1883 to 1886 under Butler (1883) and RepublicanGeorge D. Robinson (1884–86).[16]
In 1883, the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution exonerating Ames's father and calling on Congress to reverse his censure.[19] While in office, he also state's divestment from theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and theHoosac Tunnel at 1/3 of par value.[16] He was at first criticized for the relatively low price,[by whom?] but it was later seen to be a good deal.[5][by whom?]
With Governor Robinson retiring in 1886, Ames won election asGovernor of Massachusetts and served three one-year terms.[2] A major political issues in his first two campaigns was his resignation from the state militia before theAmerican Civil War. Ames countered criticisms by pointing out that he had hired a substitute to serve in his place and had financially supported the Union war effort.[20]
As governor, Ames was a competent administrator, hiring and promoting more on the basis of merit than politics.[citation needed] In 1887 he signed a bill exempting military veterans from recently enacted civil service regulations, earning him the ire of the state's progressives.[21] A project to expand theMassachusetts State House was approved during his tenure, and he in 1889 helped lay the cornerstone for its new elements.[16]
He advocated the improvement of public schools, as a counter to private religious schools.[citation needed] During his second term, he donated $1,000 to theCollege of the Holy Cross, which upset anti-Catholics in the state and cost him votes in his third election againstWilliam E. Russell.[citation needed]
Ames supported the work of the Massachusetts Temperance Society but was opposed to the legislated prohibition of alcohol.[5] He became unpopular withadvocates of temperance.[citation needed] In 1889, the legislature passed a state constitutional amendment enacting prohibition, but it was voted down in the required popular referendum that followed.[22]
In 1888, his health began to fail, probably due to the strain of office and his business interests.[23] He refused to run for reelection in 1889, continuing a party tradition of three-term governors.[5] After leaving office, he traveled to Europe several times to relax and recover his health.[23] He died at his North Easton home in 1895.[24]
Ames married Anna Coffin Ray ofNantucket in 1860. The couple had six children.[24] Their youngest son,Oakes Ames, was a well-known American botanist andorchid expert who owned palatial properties in Boston, Martha's Vineyard, and North Easton.[25][26]
Ames was elected an honorary member ofPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1917, by the fraternity's Alpha Chapter at theNew England Conservatory in Boston. He is the only known member to receive such a posthumous offer.[27]
Ames was a major financier of Easton's public high school, and it is namedOliver Ames High School in his honor.[28][26] He is also the namesake of the small community ofOliver, Nebraska[29] and of theschoonerGovernor Ames, in which he was invested.[citation needed]
With his cousinFrederick Lothrop Ames, Ames financed the construction of many projects designed by architectH. H. Richardson and landscape designerFrederick Law Olmsted in North Easton, includingOakes Ames Memorial Hall and theAmes Free Library. The site of these properties is now theH. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, aNational Historic Landmark District.[30]
Ames was a patron of sports and the arts. He ownedBooth's Theatre inNew York City[26] and raised funds to send members of theBoston Athletic Association to the1896 Summer Olympics.
He was at one time the president of the Merchants' Club of Boston, and he was also president of theBoston Art Club.[2]
"Ames, Oliver (governor of Massachusetts)".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 106.
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Massachusetts 1886,1887,1888 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1883–1887 | Succeeded by John Q. A. Brackett |
| Preceded by | Governor of Massachusetts 1887–1890 | Succeeded by |
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