Samuel Ames (September 6, 1806 – December 20, 1865) was an American jurist.

Biography

Samuel Ames was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

on September 6, 1806. He was educated at Philips Academy Andover and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, graduating from the latter in 1823. A few years later Ames was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, and became prominent in public affairs. Ames married Mary Throop Dorr, sister of

Thomas Wilson Dorr Thomas Wilson Dorr (November 5, 1805December 27, 1854), was an American politician and reformer in Rhode Island, best known for leading the Dorr Rebellion. Early life, family, and education Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in Providence, Rhode Isla ...

, in 1838, and they had five children. He was a member of the state legislature for several terms, presiding as speaker in 1844-45. During the

Dorr Rebellion The Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842) (also referred to as Dorr's Rebellion, Dorr's War or Dorr War) was an attempt by disenfranchised residents to force broader democracy in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, where a small rural elite was in control of ...

, he acted as quartermaster of the state troops. In 1853, Ames was elected to represent his state in the adjustment of the boundary between Rhode Island and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He succeeded William R. Staples as chief justice of the

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial No ...

, serving from 1856 to 1865, when he resigned due to poor health. He was delegate to the

Peace Conference of 1861 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the secess ...

. He died in Providence on December 20, 1865.

Works

* "Angell and Ames of Corporations" (1832)

References

1806 births 1865 deaths Brown University alumni Chief Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Phillips Academy alumni 19th-century American judges {{RhodeIsland-state-judge-stub