USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 81
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(IV) Ebenezer Ames, son of Anthony Ames (3), was born at Marshfield, Decem- ber 20, 17II; died at North Haven, Maine. He removed from Marshfield, with various other citizens of that town and vicinity, after the French and Indian wars, and settled first at Fox Island, in 1765. He was a farmer. He married, August 27, 1740-1, Margaret Barstow, who was baptized June 27, 1725, daughter of Benjamin and Mercy (Randall) Barstow. Mercy was daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Macomber) Randall and grand- daughter of the pioneer, William Randall. Benjamin Barstow, born July 22, 1690, was the son of William and Sarah Barstow, and grandson of the first settlers, William and Anne (Hubbard) Barstow, of Scituate, Massachusetts. £ Children : I. Mark, born 1742; mentioned below.
2. Justus, born
1744; also removed to Maine. 3. Margaret (or Peggy), married William Dyer. 4. Ruth, married Benjamin Dyer.
(V) Mark Ames, son of Ebenezer Ames (4), was born in 1742; died at North Haven, Maine, March 29, 1823. He removed with his father and brother Justus to the province of Maine, about 1765, and took up a large tract of land at North Haven. He was a soldier in the Revolution, credited to Part- ridgefield, Maine, in Captain Nathan Wilkin's company of minute men who marched for Boston, April, 1775, on the Lexington alarm. He enlisted May 5, 1775, in Captain Nathan Watkins's company, Colonel John Patter- son's regiment, and served until November 1775, or later. ("Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution"). He settled at North Haven. He married, October 11, 1769. His two eldest children were baptized at Marshfield, June 20, 1773. Possibly they did not leave Marshfield until after that date, though it is presumed that they returned on a visit of some kind. His wife was born August 27, 1746, and died at North Haven, May 7, 1796, daughter of Benjamin and Experience (Egerton) Howland, of Halifax. Experience was born October II, 1725, and married Feb- ruary 10, 1743. Benjamin, born September 30, 1721, was the son of Abraham Howland, who was born in 1675; grandson of Samuel and Mary Howland; great-grandson of Henry and Mary Howland, of Duxbury. Henry How- land was a pioneer at Duxbury, died June 16, 1674. Mark Ames married second, 1797, Rebecca Crosbery. Children of Mark and Priscilla Ames: 1. Mark, baptized June 20, 1773; died February 28, 1831; married Mercy Perry. 2. Experience, baptized June 20, 1773, at Marshfield; married Nathaniel Lind- sey, and died January 7, 1842. 3. Rev. Ben- jamin, born May, 1774; married first, Mar- garet Dyer; second, Olive Waterman; he was a student of theology in 1806 under Rev. Mr. Merrill, and was ordained a Baptist minis- ter at North Haven in 1809; was minister at St. George's from 1811 until his death, August 23, 1845. 4. Anna, born 1780; mar- ried William Dyer, of North Haven. 5. John, mentioned below. 6. Isaac, born 1785; mar- ried Abigail Clark; resided and died at Ma- chias, Maine. 7. Abraham, born 1787; mar- ried Clark; third, Olive Drinkwater; resided at Machias. 8. Hezekiah, born Oc- tober, 1790; married Betsey Fowler; second, Sally Scofield; resided at North Haven.
(VI) John Ames, son of Mark Ames (5), was born November 8, 1782, at North Haven,
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and died there May 13, 1861. He was a farmer. He married, in 1805, Hannah Perry, who was born February 18, 1784, died October II, 1867, the daughter of John and Lucy (Wooster) Perry. Her father was born No- vember 10, 1750, and died January 14, 1833, the son of Ephraim and Mary (Babcock) Perry. Mary Babcock was the daughter of Ebenezer and Abigail (Leland) Babcock; granddaughter of Ebenezer and Hannah (Barbour) Babcock. Ebenezer, Sr., was son of the immigrants, Robert and Joanna Bab- cock; his wife was the daughter of George Barbour, the pioneer. Abigail, wife of Eben- ezer Babcock, Jr., was daughter of Hope- still and Mary (Bullard) Leland; granddaugh- ter of Hopestill and Elizabeth (Hill) Leland; great-granddaughter of the immigrant, Henry Leland. This family was one of the leading and most prominent in Sherborn, Massachu- setts. Ephraim Perry, born November 14, 1715, was the son of Josiah and Bethia (Cut- ter) Perry. Bethia was the daughter of Cap- tain Ephraim and Bethia (Wood) Cutter; granddaughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Williams) Cutter, one of the principal fami- lies of Arlington and Cambridge, Massachu- setts. (See sketch). Josiah Perry was the son of John and Sarah (Clary) Perry, and grandson of John and Joanna (Holland) Perry of Watertown, Massachusetts. Chil- dren of John and Hannah Ames: I. Dura, born May 7, 1806; died December 2, 1825. 2. Captain Jesse, born February 4, 1808; mentioned below. 3. Olive W., born Febru- ary 13, 1810; died 1847; married Samuel Ran- kin, of Rockland. 4. Charlotte S., born Feb- ruary 14, 1812; died March 27, 1834; married Hiram Brewster. 5. Lucy P., born July 7, 1814; married Nathaniel Crockett, of Rock- land, Maine. 6. Captain Jackson, born De- cember 29, 1816; died November 22, 1855; married Sally Thomas; resided at Rockland, and died at Port au Prince, November 22, 1855. 7. David, born June 26, 1819; married Sally Dyer; resided at North Haven. 8.
Hezekiah, married Thomas, and re- sided at North Haven. 9. Otis, born Octo- ber 27, 1823; died June 16, 1831. 10. Nancy P., born July 30, 1826; married Captain Oli- ver J. Conant; resided at Rockland.
(VII) Captain Jesse Ames, son of John Ames (6), was born at North Haven, Maine, February 4, 1808; died there December 6, 1894. He was a farmer. He removed to Minnesota from Rockland, Maine, in middle life. He married, October 23, 1832, Martha Bradbury Tolman, born May 8, 1813, daugh-
ter of Thomas and Lydia (Ingraham) Tol- man. Lydia, born April 4, 1784, married De- cember 3, 1810, daughter of Joseph and Brad- bury (Keen) Ingraham. Joseph, born July I, 1759, died October 23, 1848; married July I, 1783; son of John Ingraham, Jr., born Janu- ary 25, 1727-8; married June 24, 1750, Mrs. Mary Gladding. John Ingraham, Sr., his fa- ther, born December 8, 1701; married No- vember 27, 1723, Mary Fry; was the son of Timothy Ingraham, who was born July 2, 1660; married Sarah Cowell, who was born April, 1660. Timothy, son of William In- graham, the immigrant, lived in Boston. Will- iam married Mary Barstow, daughter of William Barstow, of Dedham.
Thomas Tolman, born February 8, 1753, died November 25, 1827; married Martha Calderwood, daughter of John and Elizabeth (McCurdy), granddaughter of a Scotch-Irish settler, James Calderwood, was the son of Isaiah Tolman, born May 18, 1721 ; married September 12, 1745, Hannah Fuller, descendant of Thomas Fisher, of Dedham, Massachusetts, through his son Thomas Fisher, and grandson Jere- miah, her father. Isaiah was son of Thomas and Mary (Hartwell) Tolman of Dorchester, grandson of Thomas and Experience Tolman, and grandson of Thomas and Elizabeth (Johnson) Tolman. Hannah Fuller was the daughter of Jeremiah Fuller and Hannah (Newell) Fuller, of Roxbury. Jeremiah Ful- ler was born November 20, 1696; married July 16, 1724, son of Jeremiah and Esther (Fisher) Fuller. Jeremiah Fuller, born June 23, 1662, died April 23, 1733; married April 25, 1688, Esther Fisher, born August 5, 1667, died April 3, 1747. Thomas Fuller, father of Jeremiah Fuller, was born in England, died September 28, 1690; married November 22, 1643, Hannah Flower, who was born in Eng- land, died between 1690 and 1703, in Massa- chusetts. Daniel Fisher, father of Esther (Fisher) Fuller, was born in England, died in Massachusetts, October 8, 1683; married September 17, 1641, Abigail Marriott, who was born in England, and died in this country October 11, 1683.
Captain Ames was educated in the com- mon schools, and then went to sea, rising to the command of a sailing vessel. When the civil war broke out he removed to Minne- sota and established a flour business, in which he prospered. He afterwards went to New York state to live, and continued in the flour business there until his death. Children of Captain Jesse and Martha Ames: I. John Thomas, born at Rockland, February 15,
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1834; proprietor of Clover Hill Farm, North- field, Minnesota; married July 9, 1858, at Boston, Ellen Maria Clough. Children: i. Martha Ellen, born at St. Paul, May 18, 1859; married Charles F. Nickels; had children: Ellen Nickels, born February 16, 1880; Fran- ces Nickels, born February 18, 1882. ii. Sarah Frances, born March 17, 1861, at St. Paul; married Edward Loyhed; their chil- dren: John Henry Loyhed, born July 24, 1885, died August 23, 1887; Thomas Henry, born March 30, 1887; Benjamin Loyhed, born July 4, 1888; died June 28, 1889; Lois Dorothy Loyhed, born November 3, 1889, at Minneapolis ; Kathryn Loyhed, born March 31, 1892, at Seattle. iii. Alice Adelbert, born December 12, 1863; married Alden S. Hall; their children: Margaret Ames Hall, born October 12, 1889, at St. Paul; Catherine Ames Hall, born November 29, 1891. iv. John Adelbert, born February 3, 1869, at Northfield. 2. General Adelbert, born Octo- ber 31, 1835; mentioned below.
(VIII) Major General Adelbert Ames, son of Captain Jesse Ames (7), was born at Rockland, Maine, October 31, 1835. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and at the United States Military Alca- demy at West Point, entering July 1, 1856, and graduating May 6, 1861. On the day of his graduation he was assigned to the Second Artillery, with the rank of second lieutenant. A week later, May 14, he received a commis- sion as first lieutenant of the Fifth Artillery, and until July was engaged in drilling volun- teers at Washington. He took part in the Manassas campaign, and was in the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. Early in the day he was shot through the right thigh, and Cap- tain Griffin ordered him to the rear. This order Lieutenant Ames declined to obey. When the battery changed position, he was at first able, with the assistance of his men, to mount and dismount his horse, but later in the day, when the wounded limb had stif- fened so that he could not sit upon his horse, he was placed on a caisson with a cannoneer as a supporting pillow. Thus conditioned he led the battery under the direction of Captain Griffin over the rough and plowed ground to its last position where men and guns were finally lost. He was carried by his men to the rear to find painful transporta- tion to the city of Washington. He received a medal for his bravery, and was breveted major July 21, 1861, for gallant and meri- torious services at the battle of Bull Run. He was able to return to duty September 4,
1861, in the defences of Washington. He was assigned October 1, 1861, to the command of Battery A, Fifth United States Artillery, and until March, 1862, was in Virginia in the Peninsular campaign, in the Army of the Potomac from March to Sep- tember of that year. He took part in the siege of Yorktown, April 5 to May 4, 1862, and was in the battle of Gaines Mill, June 27, 1862, and the battle of Malvern Hill, July I, 1862, being breveted lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious services in the latter battle, July 1, 1862. He was appointed col- onel of the Twentieth Maine Volunteer Regi- ment, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Poto- mac, in Maryland, in the campaign from Sep- tember to November, participating in the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. He marched to Falmouth, Virginia, in October and November, 1862, in the Rappahannock campaign, and participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1863, and of Chancellorsville, as aide-de-camp to Major General Meade, May 2-4, 1863. In the spring of 1863 his regiment was inoculated with small pox, disabling them for duty for some time, and he served through the Chancellorsville cam- paign on the staff of General Meade, com- manding the Fifth Corps, and General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Poto- mac. He took part in the combat at Beverly Ford, and in the movement against Culpep- er Court House in command of a brigade, having been commissioned brigadier general of United States Volunteers, May 20, 1863, and assigned June 9, 1863, to the command of the Second Brigade, First Division, Elev- enth Corps, on the march north from the Rappahannock river, and led in the first day's fight at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. The divi- sion commander being wounded and disabled, the command devolved upon General Ames during the rest of the first day and the two subsequent days of the battle. He was brev- eted colonel in the regular army for gallant and meritorious service on that occasion.
In August following he was sent with his command to join the forces besieging Charleston, South Carolina, and in Florida, until 1864, when with the troops of that department he proceeded to Fortress Monroe, Virginia. In the Army of the James he took part in the operations before Peters- burg and Richmond, being engaged in the action at Port Walthall Junction, in May; the battle of Cold Harbor, in June; of Derbytown Road, in October; and was selected in De- cember, 1864, to command a division of three
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brigades in an expedition against Fort Fisher, North Carolina. In January he led his com- mand against that fort. The only order re- ceived from the commanding general affect- ing his movement was: "The time has come to make the assault." General Terry, com- manding the expedition, reported as follows: "Of General Ames I have already spoken in a letter recommending his promotion. He commanded all the troops engaged, and was constantly under fire. His great coolness, good judgment and skill were never more conspicuous than in this assault." In the Maine Bugle, in April, 1897, General J. P. Cil- ley wrote in comment on a paper written by General Ames describing this attack: "The paper on Fort Fisher, read by General Ames, is almost entirely one of authorities, each statement being drawn from offi- cial reports and recognized history, but between its lines, to a soldier's eye, a bril- liant attack, unequaled in modern wars, is de- picted. The three brigades of the division de- livered their timely blows with the cadence and force of a triphammer. Under the heroic lead- ership of Ames's staff officer, Captain Law- rence, the First Brigade made a lodgment in the first traverse, and then the Second Brigade, accompanied by Ames, was launched, followed by the Third, capturing the second and third traverses, and the division obtained a grip on the stronger than Malakoff tower." Captain Breese, of the navy, sets forth his admiration : "Being a witness to the assault of the army after our repulse, I cannot but express my ad- miration of the extreme gallantry of its at- tack. It was the most inspiring sight to see how splendidly our brave soldiers did their work. The determined work of the division from the closing hours of the short winter day till ten o'clock, as it assaulted one traverse after another, or the gallant work of Abbott's Brigade, as at nine o'clock at night it moved by the flank between the palisades and the foot of the fort and climbed up the slope en- veloping the sea end of the fort, can never be adequately described. This crowning work of General Ames's military career renders a notice of his previous army service appro
ate. I remember with most pleasing accuracy my first meeting with General Davis Tillson. The Fourth Maine Infantry was being organ- ized at the time. In referring to this regiment, General Tillson spoke of a young cadet about to graduate from West Point, whom he thought would make an admirable lieutenant- colonel and a fitting support to Colonel Berry. The name of the cadet was Adelbert Ames.
He was tendered the appointment, but the mil- itary authorities at Washington decided that his services were needed with the battery of light artillery to which he would be assigned. This battery, at the first battle of Bull Run, was stationed to the right of the celebrated Henry House, and was exposed to disastrous infantry fire. Ames was severely wounded, but in his disabled condition stuck to his guns, and kept them at work on the enemy till or- dered to retire from the field. For this gal- lantry a medal of honor was bestowed on him, and Maine first knew his heroic qualities. When the Twentieth Maine was raised, Ames was made its colonel. He took hold of this regiment as a baker is supposed to take hold of dough, and drilled it with such persistent and continual effort that officers and men were tempted to declare that they hated the man, but as this regiment was advanced from shel- ter of the houses of Fredericksburg, over the open fields which stretched on and up to the stone walls on Marye's Heights, Ames went to the forefront, and the men heard the voice of command they had learned to obey. They felt the value of the man and the quality of the work he had wrought in the ranks of the regi- ment, and from that moment forward they took pride in their commander and gave him unqualified homage. During its entire service, the value of Ames's military labors was ap- parent in the conduct and history of this regi- ment. Ames soon advanced to the command of a brigade. * His whole career was marked by a faithful and complete performance of all military duties assigned him, with a gallantry and personal bravery seldom equaled, until the darkness of that winter night of January 15, 1865, was made luminous with the capture of the Fortress by the Sea."
General Ames was promoted after the tak- ing of Fort Fisher to the rank of major-gen- eral of United States Volunteers by brevet. At the close of the war he was assigned to the command of the territorial districts in North and South Carolina until April 30, 1866. He was breveted brigadier-general in the regular army for his gallantry at Fort Fisher, and bre- veted major-general March 13, 1865, for his gallant record throughout the rebellion. He was given the command of the Fifth United States Artillery, February 22, 1865, and be- came lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, July 28, 1866. A board of general officers consisting of Major Generals W. T. Sherman, George G. Meade and George H. Thomas, assembled at St. Louis, Missouri, March 14, 1866, recommend-
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ed certain officers of the regular army for pro- motion to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet, and among them was General Ames, for the capture of Fort Fisher. Subsequent to his election as president, General Grant said, referring to General Benjamin F. Butler: "If I had given him two corps commanders like Adelbert Ames, he would have made a fine campaign, and helped materially in my plans. I have always been sorry that I did not do so."
General Ames was placed in command of the Military District of Mississippi by General Grant in 1869. He resigned from the army to accept the office of United States senator, March 4, 1869. He resigned his seat in the senate on being elected governor of Missis- sippi, in 1873, by a majority of about forty thousand. His administration during the very difficult and trying times of reconstruction was marked by an earnest and successful effort to improve the material condition of the state, and by the economical and judicious use of the public revenue which left the financial con- dition above criticism. But owing to the race prejudice and bitterness following the defeats and disasters of the civil war, any government by a northern man would have proved obnox- ious to the white people of that state, the for- mer slave owners and secessionists, the men ruined in health and finances by the war. A northern general elected by the votes of ignor- ant black voters recently emancipated from slavery could hardly accept a more dangerous or trying task than the government of an old slave state. A riot at Vicksburg, December 7, 1873, between the political parties, resulted in the disorganization of the civil government and in an era of crime and murder throughout the state. Governor Ames appealed to the federal government for aid in enforcing the law and establishing order, but he was in- structed to "take all lawful means to preserve the peace by the forces in his own state." The November elections, in which every method of fraud, intimidation and even murder were resorted to by the secession element to gain control of the government again, resulted in the overthrow of the Republican party and made the legislature Democratic. Following up the game, the Democratic legislature de- termined to remove the governor and gain complete control. Charges were trumped up in order to impeach Governor Ames, and real- izing the hopelessness of accomplishing any further good for the state, and the certainty of the success of the scheme to oust him from office by vote of the Democratic legislature, he offered to resign on condition that all charges
were withdrawn against him, rather than be tried by a jury whose verdict was determined in advance. After resigning he left the state and went into business in New York city, where he resided until 1893, when he made his home in Lowell, Massachusetts, and now resides there in the mansion of his late father- in-law, General Benjamin F. Butler. He is president of the Lowell Woolen Company ; the Wamesit Power Company, and director of various other Lowell corporations. He is a member of the New York Commandery, Loyal Legion. In the Spanish war of 1898 General Ames commanded a brigade, and participated in the surrender of Santiago, Cuba. He has taken a leading position in the social and business life of the city, and no man is more generally liked and honored than he.
He married, in 1871, Blanche Butler, daugh- ter of General Benjamin F. Butler. (See sketch). Mrs. Ames is a member of the May- flower Society, being eighth in descent from John Howland. She was for some years his- torian of the Colonial Dames of New Hamp- shire. She is the author and compiler of a genealogy of the Butler family, and has de- voted much time to historical and genealogical research. Children : I. Hon. Butler, born August 22, 1871 ; mentioned below. 2. Edith, born March 4, 1873, at Washington, D. C .; educated at Bryn Mawr College; married June 19, 1896, E. Brooks Stevens, nephew of Moses Stevens of Lowell; he is a manufacturer ; chil- dren : Ames Stevens, Edith Stevens, Harriet Stevens, Brooks Stevens. 3. Sarah, born Oc- tober 1, 1874; educated at Bryn Mawr Col- lege; married Spencer Borden, Jr., of Fall River, a manufacturer ; children : Blanche Bor- den, Spencer Borden, Joan Borden. They re- side in Fall River. 4. Blanche, born Febru- ary 18, 1878; graduate of Smith College, class of 1899, was captain of the basket ball team, and senior captain of her class ; married Oakes Ames, son of Governor Oliver Ames, of North Easton, Massachusetts, a descendant of Wil- liam Ames, a settler in Braintree in 1641, grad- uate of Harvard College in 1898; A. M. 1899; now instructor in the Arnold Arboretum, and an authority on the subject of orchids, author of "Studies in the Family Orchidaceae," which is beautifully illustrated by plates from the drawings of Mrs. Ames; children: Pauline Ames ; Oliver Ames ; a son. 5. Adelbert, born August 19, 1880; fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts ; graduated from Harvard University in 1903, and from the Harvard Law School in 1906; was admit- ted to the bar in January, 1906, and is now
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with the law firm of Long & Heminway, Bos- ton; was manager of the Harvard foot ball team in his senior year ; an expert at polo, se- lected as one of the four best players at My- opia. 6. Jessie, born in New York city, No- vember 2, 1882 ; graduate of Smith College in 1903 ; was captain of the basket ball team, and senior captain of her class; is now living at home.
(IX) Hon. Butler Ames, son of General Adelbert Ames (8), was born in Lowell, Au- gust 22, 1871. He attended the public and high schools of his native town, completing his preparation for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he was graduated in 1894. He resigned soon afterward, and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was graduated in 1896. He began his business career immediately as superin- tendent of the Wamesit Power Company, of which his father is president. He has been interested in various manufacturing concerns in Lowell, chiefly the Wamesit Power Com- pany. He volunteered his services when the Spanish war broke out, and was appointed adjutant of the Sixth Massachusetts Regi- ment and promoted to the rank of lieutenant- colonel after the skirmish at Guanica a Yauca road, Porto Rico, during the operations on that island. He began his political career directly after graduating from college. He is a Re- publican. He served two years in the common council of Lowell, and two years as represen- tative to the general court of Massachusetts. In 1902 he was elected to congress from his district, and re-elected in 1904 and 1906. He has shown a special fitness for legislative du- ties, and grown constantly stronger in the con- fidence and esteem of his constituents. He is an able stump speaker and during the political campaign of recent years he has been called upon constantly. He is a member of the Union and University Clubs of Boston. He is un- married.
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