Nathan Ames (November 17, 1826 in

Roxbury, New Hampshire Roxbury is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 220 at the 2020 census. History The smallest town in Cheshire County, Roxbury was incorporated in 1812 from portions of Nelson, Marlborough, and Keene. B ...

– August 17, 1865 in

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron works in North America. History Native Americans ...

) was a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

solicitor who held the first patent in the United States for an

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

-like machine. The patent (#25,076) was granted on August 9, 1859, for an invention he called "Revolving Stairs". The escalator had steps mounted on a continuous belt or chain. He also patented machines for improvement in polishing

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

during the time when Lynn's shoemaking industry was one of the largest in the world. Another one of his patents was for a

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...

, an early copying machine that operated by using pens connected by wires. Another patent he held was for an improved grater. A writer and a poet, Ames had a disquisition and a Class Ode published during his time at Harvard. His book of poetry ''Pirate’s Glen and Dungeon Rock'' was published in 1853. These poems were based the local

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

legend of Dungeon Rock. His brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

was an American

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

artist. Ames was educated at Phillips Academy at Andover, and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. His birth name was Nathan Eames, but it was legally changed to Nathan Ames in 1843.

References

1826 births 1865 deaths 19th-century American inventors Poets from New Hampshire Harvard College alumni People from Saugus, Massachusetts People from Roxbury, New Hampshire 19th-century American poets American male poets Phillips Academy alumni 19th-century American male writers Inventors from New Hampshire {{US-poet-1820s-stub