Cheney Ames (June 19, 1808 – September 14, 1892) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

Life

He was born on June 19, 1808, in

Mexico, New York Mexico is a town in the northeastern section of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 5,197 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Mexico. Mexico has been referred to as the "Mother of Towns", as the ori ...

, the son of Leonard Ames (1775–1843) and Minerva (Peck) Ames (d. 1852). He became a

hatter Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...

, first in

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

, then in Cortlandville. On October 23, 1834, he married Emily North (1817–1848), and they had six children. In 1837, he removed to Oswego, and at first set up shop as a hatter, but then became engaged in other business, like grain and flour trade; the manufacture of

limewater Limewater is the common name for a saturated aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is sparsely soluble at room temperature in water (1.5 g/L at 25 °C). "Pure" (i.e. less than or fully saturated) limewater i ...

and

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

; a

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

factory; and the construction of the New York and Oswego Midland and other railroads. He was Postmaster of

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

, from 1849 to 1853. In 1854, he married Catherine "Kate" Brown (1832–1910), and they had four children. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(21st D.) in

1858 Events January–March * January – **Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president. **William I of Prussia becomes regent f ...

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...

1864 Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " ...

and

1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...

. He was again Postmaster of Oswego from 1877 to 1881. He died on September 14, 1892, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

; and was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Oswego. Assemblyman Leonard Ames (b. 1818) was his brother.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; pg. 442f)
''Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1859''
by William D. Murray (pg. 32ff)

transcribed from ''History of Oswego County, New York, 1789 to 1877'' (1878); at

RootsWeb Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

Obit
transcribed from the ''Oswego Palladium'', of September 15, 1892 (with portrait)

at

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Cheney 1808 births 1892 deaths Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from Mexico, New York New York (state) postmasters 19th-century American railroad executives Politicians from Oswego, New York 19th-century American politicians