Nathaniel Ames (October 9, 1741 – July 20, 1822) represented
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
in the
Great and General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
.
Personal life
Ames was born on October 9, 1741, to Dr.
Nathaniel Ames
Nathaniel Ames (July 22, 1708 – July 11, 1764), a colonial American physician, published a popular series of annual almanacs. He was the son of Nathaniel Ames first (1677–1736) and the father of Nathaniel and Fisher Ames. The family was ...
and
Deborah Ames. His brother was
Fisher Ames
Fisher Ames (; April 9, 1758 – July 4, 1808) was a Representative in the United States Congress from the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts. He was an important leader of the Federalist Party in the House, and was noted for his ...
. He had polar opposite political views from Fisher, and very different social styles as well. Nathaniel "enjoyed his role as country doctor, servant of the proletariat, and champion of the common man." He became the leader of the
Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
in Dedham. He was most at home around the farmers and laborers with whom he grew up. Fisher, on the other hand, liked to dress well, hobnob with
Boston society, and was an influential Federalist. Fisher operated his law practice out of the first floor of the
Ames Tavern
The Ames Tavern was a tavern in Dedham, Massachusetts. Founded as Fisher's Tavern in 1649 by Joshua Fisher, it eventually passed into the hands of Nathaniel Ames through a complicated lawsuit based on colonial laws of inheritance. It was eventuall ...
. Ames believed the two greatest threats to America were "
pettifogger
Pettifogger may refer to:
* Larsen E. Pettifogger, a character in the comic strip ''The Wizard of Id''
* ''The Pettifogger'', a 2011 film from Lewis Klahr
See also
* Gaming the system
* Trivial objections
Trivial objections (also referred to as h ...
s," a derogatory term he used to describe lawyers, and "Fudderalists."
Ames was the administrator of his father's estate but, 23 years after his death, Ames still had not made a settlement among the heirs. Fisher increased his protests until the point that Ames finally settled all their father's affairs, but never forgave his family for rushing him. As was just about everything he did in life, Fisher's death on July 4, 1808, was an annoyance to his brother Nathaniel. Nathaniel had arraigned for a funeral in Dedham and had sent details to a printer to be published.
George Cabot
George Cabot (1751 or 1752April 18, 1823) was an American merchant, seaman, and politician from Massachusetts. He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate and was the presiding officer of the infamous Hartford Convention.
During and after hi ...
sent an employee to speak to Fisher's widow about hosting the funeral in his home. The widow agreed. Nathaniel believed Cabot's intentions were to embarrass the Town of Dedham for its Republican political views and did not attend.
He was married to Melitiah Shuttleworth by Rev.
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...
on March 13, 1775,
[ but it was not a happy marriage. He wrote in his diary that some of the best advice he ever got was "Of all the foolish things you do, let marriage be the last," and that he had "discovered worse malignancy in my bosom friend that I conceived it possible to dwell in human shape." His wife forbid him from frequenting taverns, depriving him of both social and business contacts.
The couple took in Melitiah's niece, ]Hannah Shuttleworth
Hannah Shuttleworth (1800-1886) was a philanthropist from Dedham, Massachusetts .
Personal life
Shuttleworth was born in 1800 to Jeremiah Shuttleworth, the brother-in-law of Nathaniel Ames (third), Nathaniel Ames, and his wife, Susanna () Shuttlew ...
, when the girl was 16 years old.[ When Ames died in 1822, he left his fortune to his wife and, upon her death, to the unmarried Hannah, his closest living relative.][
He became known around Dedham as "Grumbleton the Jacobinite." The list of people and groups he disliked was as long as his prejudices were extreme. He would also frequently create caricature names for them, such as "Prigarchy" for ]John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
, lawyers in general, anything British, and Federalists.
He attended 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 ...
, graduating in 1761. He went on to earn a second degree at Harvard as well. There he would make connections with a number of individuals who would serve in the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
and in the new American government.
Ames kept a diary for most of his life where he recorded his actions and thoughts on both local and national events, but he largely stopped writing about national affairs after the end of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
.
Career
The town first elected Ames to the Great and General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
in 1790, but he refused the office. The following year he was elected again and accepted "upon he town'sacceptance to dispense with my attendance... I consider myself as a nominal Representative only to save the Town from being fined."
Following his father's death, Ames took on his medical practice and his almanac publishing business. He would also teach in the Dedham Public Schools
The Dedham Public School System (Dedham Public Schools) is a PK– 12 graded school district in Dedham, Massachusetts. It is the oldest public school system in the United States.
History
On January 2, 1643, the Town Meeting set aside land for ...
and in Needham, Massachusetts
Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College.
History
Early settlement
Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...
.
After the Norfolk County was created in 1792, the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace first met in the Dedham's meetinghouse. Ames was chosen as the clerk of both and they met for the first time on September 23. He was removed from both positions in August 1797 by the new Federalist administration. Ames saw political revenge as the reason for the sacking, but those responsible claimed that he had "so interlarded the books with ebullitions of spleen, nonsense, and blackguardism, that it became necessary, for the preservation of the records, to remove him.
In 1793, he was upset that Samuel Haven was selected to be register of probate over him and claimed it was only through the "solicitation, lying, and intrigue" of Haven's father, Rev. Jason Haven Jason Haven (March 2, 1733 – May 17, 1803) was the longest serving minister of the First Church and Parish in Dedham.
Personal life
Haven was born on March 2, 1733, in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1754. Whil ...
, that he got the position. Like his father before him, Ames frequently feuded with the elder Haven.
Revolutionary war
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...
, Ames tended to the wounded. One patient was Israel Everett, from whose arm he removed a musket ball.
See also
* Ames family
The Ames family is one of the oldest and most illustrious families of the United States. The family's branches are descended from John Ames, the son of a 17th-century settler of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and numerous public and private wo ...
Notes
References
Works cited
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Nathaniel
Members of the Massachusetts General Court
1741 births
1802 deaths
Educators from Dedham, Massachusetts
Businesspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts
People from colonial Dedham, Massachusetts
Politicians from Dedham, Massachusetts
Harvard College alumni