AMES. AMES. 19 At the age of twenty-one he returned to I. vnn and began the manufacture of shoes. In five years, at the age of twenty-six, he was the owner of one of the largest enter- prises in a city full of active, shrewd men with whom he had entered on a race for wealth. In 1847 he established a house in Boston for the sale of hides and leather. At various times he has been the senior partner in the firm- of Alley, Choate & Cummings, the firm of John B. Alley & Co., and later in the firm of Alley Brothers & Place, in which the two sons of Mr. Al- ley and Mr. Place were the partners. In 1886 this last firm was dissolved, and after a business career of forty-eight years Mr. Alley retired. After his retirement, Mr. Alley went on a European tour, taking the first vacation in a life of seventy years. In his earlier years, before the birth of what was called the Free Soil party in 1848, he was at- tached to the Liberty party, having inher- ited anti-slavery sentiments from his father (a member of the Society of Friends), and this sentiment never abated until, by the proclamation of President Lincoln, the slaves were made free. In 1857, during the administration of Governor Boutwell, he was one of the exe- cutive council. In 1852 he was in the state Senate, serving as chairman of the committee on railroads. In 1S53 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and for several years was an active and influential member of the Republican state central committee In 1S58 he was chosen representative to Congress, serving four terms, during two of which he performed the duties of chairman of the committee on post-office and post-roads. His services in Congress covered the whole period of the war. Since his retirement he has been en- gaged with others in large railroad enter- prises in the West and South, and is largely connected with land property in New Mex- ico. He was married at Lynn, September 15, 1841, to Hannah M., daughter of William and Hannah (Breed) Rhodes. Their chil- dren are : Emma R., Mary F., John S. and William H. Alley. AMES, FRANK M., son of Oakes and Eveline (Gilmore) Ames, was born in North Easton, Bristol county, August 14, 1833. He was educated at Leicester and An- dover academies. Upon leaving school he entered into the employ of the well- known firm of Oliver Ames & Sons, where he remained several years, and became practically acquainted not only with the mechanical part of manufacturing shovels, but also with the details of an extensive business. In 185S he removed to Canton to take control of the business of the Kinsley Iron & Machine Company. At the present time he is one of the chief owners in that corporation. He is also president of the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Com- pany. He has, in addition to other business, been largely interested in railroads, and was for several years sole trustee and man- ager of the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas Railroad. He also owns and manages a large plantation of about twelve thousand acres, on the Mississippi River, directly opposite the city of New Orleans, where he has each year from thirteen hundred to fifteen hundred acres of land cultivated with sugar-cane, and a large area with rice, while the remaining portion is used for grazing purposes. He has been active in public life. He was sergeant-major and quartermaster of the 2d battalion infantry, which after- wards became the 4th regiment, of which he was also major. In 1869, and again in 1882, he was elected by his fellow-towns- men of Canton — where he still retains his legal residence — as representative to the General Court, where he served on the committee on railroads. In 1S84 he was elected to the Senate, and served on the committee on drainage and on manufac- tures, and was chairman of the special com- mittee on metropolitan police for the city of Boston. In 1884 he was a delegate to the national Republican convention at Chicago. AMES, OLIVER, son of Oakes and Eveline ( Gilmore ) Ames, was born in Easton, Bristol county, February 4, 1831. He passed the usual public school course of his native town, and prepared for col- lege in the academies at No. Attleborough and Leicester. His college course — a special one — was taken at Brown Univer- sity, Providence, R. I. He began business life as an employee in the shovel works of Oliver Ames & Sons. He afterwards went on the road as traveling agent for the firm, of which he soon became an active partner. While engaged in the never-ceasing round of cares that are incident to the carrying on of immense manufacturing establishments, Oliver Ames has always found time in which to serve his fellow- citizens in public matters, whether state, county, municipal or social.
