Eli B. Ames (August 3, 1820 – February 12, 1897) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, judge, and

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

ic politician who served as the fourth mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Life and career

Ames was born on August 3, 1820, in Colchester, Vermont. His brother was

Alfred Elisha Ames Alfred Elisha Ames (December 14, 1814 – September 23, 1874) was an American physician and politician. Born in Colchester, Vermont, he moved to Orwell, Ohio, in 1831. In 1836 he moved to Chicago, Illinois. He then moved to Vandalia, Illinoi ...

. When he was a child, his family moved to Ohio, later relocating to Ottawa, Illinois. While there, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1842. He later moved to Hennepin, Illinois, where he served as postmaster and later as a probate judge. Ames served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 1851 to 1852. After his term in the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

, he worked as an aide to Joel Aldrich Matteson. In 1855, he was appointed to the American consulate in Hamburg, Germany as consul. While serving as consul, he negotiated a postal treaty with Germany. In 1857, he arrived in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

where he started an insurance business. From 1861 to 1864, he served as the secretary of the Minnesota Senate. Later, he served two, one-year terms as the mayor of Minneapolis from 1870 to 1872, defeating his brother Alfred in the second election. In 1873, Ames lost his bid for a third term as mayor. He unsuccessfully ran for the

Minneapolis School Board Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) or Special School District Number 1 is a public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Public Schools enrolls 36,370 students in publi ...

in 1875. Ames died on February 12, 1897. He was buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Electoral history

*Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1870 **Eli B. Ames 1,005 **

Paris Gibson Paris Gibson (July 1, 1830December 16, 1920) was an American entrepreneur and politician. Gibson was born in Brownfield, Maine. An 1851 graduate of Bowdoin College, he served as a member of the Montana State Senate and as a Democratic member ...

782 **Henry G. Sidle 1 **Write-Ins and Scattering 7 *Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1871 **Eli B. Ames 1,083 **

557 *Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1873 **

George A. Brackett George Augustus Brackett (September 16, 1836 – May 17, 1921) was a businessman and Republican politician who served as the sixth mayor of Minneapolis. He was also involved in the development of the White Pass wagon road during the Klondike ...

2,188 **Eli B. Ames 1,362

Notes

:Sources note that he was an aide to "Governor Madison", though based on the timing and his location, it appears likely they meant Governor Matteson. :Eli Ames's nephew,

A. A. Ames Albert Alonzo "Doc" Ames (January 18, 1842 – November 16, 1911) was an American physician and politician who held four non-consecutive terms as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. His fourth term was marked by multiple prosecutions for political ...

, son of Eli's brother Alfred, served four terms as mayor of Minneapolis between 1876 and 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Eli B. 1820 births 1897 deaths Mayors of Minneapolis People from Colchester, Vermont Illinois lawyers Illinois state court judges Members of the Illinois House of Representatives American consuls Burials at Lakewood Cemetery People from Hennepin, Illinois 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers