{{Short description|American businessman, investor, and politician (1804–1873)}} {{For|his grandson, an orchid specialist|Oakes Ames (botanist)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Oakes Ames | image = Oakes Ames - Brady-Handy (cropped).jpg | caption = Ames, 1860–1873 | state = [[Massachusetts]] | district = {{ushr|MA|2|2nd}} | term_start = March 4, 1863 | term_end = March 3, 1873 | predecessor = [[James Buffington (Fall River, Massachusetts)|James Buffington]] | successor = [[Benjamin W. Harris]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1804|1|10}} | birth_place = [[Easton, Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1873|5|8|1804|1|10}} | death_place = Easton, Massachusetts, U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = Evelina Orville Ames, née Gilmore | children = {{startplainlist}} * [[Oakes Angier Ames]] * [[Oliver Ames (governor)|Oliver Ames]] {{endplainlist}} | parents = {{startplainlist}} * [[Oliver Ames Sr.]] * Susanna Ames, née Angier {{endplainlist}} | relatives = {{startplainlist}} * [[Ames family]] * [[John Ames (captain)|Captain John Ames]] (paternal grandfather) * [[Oliver Ames Jr.]] (brother) * [[Oakes Ames (botanist)|Oakes Ames]] (grandson) * [[Winthrop Ames]] (grandson) {{endplainlist}} | signature = Oakes Ames 1804-1873 signature.jpg }}
'''Oakes Ames''' (January 10, 1804 – May 8, 1873) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He was a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Massachusetts]]. As a congressman, he is credited by many historians as being the single most important influence in the building of the [[Union Pacific]] portion of the [[First Transcontinental Railroad (North America)|transcontinental railroad]]. He is also noted for the subsequent [[Crédit Mobilier of America scandal|scandal]] that alleged the improper sale of stock of the railroad's construction company.
==Biography== Ames was born in [[Easton, Massachusetts]], the son of Susanna (Angier) Ames and [[Oliver Ames Sr.]], a [[blacksmith]] who had built a business of making shovels, the [[Ames Shovel Shop]], and became nicknamed "King of Spades".<ref>[[Modern Marvels]] television program; episode "Construction Machines." Originally aired February 22, 2001.</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Ames, Oakes |volume= 1 |pages=104-105 |short=}}</ref> In his youth, he obtained a public school education and later worked in the family workshops to learn each step of the manufacturing process. He eventually became a partner in the business, and with his brother [[Oliver Ames Jr.]] he established the firm Oliver Ames & Sons. Driven by the settlement of the [[Midwest]], by the discovery of gold in California and Australia, as well as by railroad construction, the shovel manufacturing business boomed. During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the firm prospered with contracts for swords, shovels, and other tools and implements.<ref name=amer>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Ames, Oakes|year=1920}}</ref> Ames made a large fortune.
He was influential in the establishment of the [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]] in Massachusetts. In 1860, he became a member of the executive council of Massachusetts, and from 1863 to 1873 he served in Congress as a U.S. Representative for the Second District of Massachusetts. While there, he became a member of the Committee on Railroads during the early building of the transcontinental railroad. In 1865, [[Abraham Lincoln|President Abraham Lincoln]] appealed to him to take control of the Union Pacific (UP) portion of the project, which had become mired down because of the war, and had built only {{convert|12|mi|km}} of track.
Through his influence he obtained contracts for his family firm in the construction of the Union Pacific and staked nearly all the family's holdings as capitalization for the project. The contracts were later transferred to the [[Crédit Mobilier of America scandal|Credit Mobilier Company of America]] after Ames ousted its founder [[Thomas C. Durant|Thomas Durant]]. His brother Oliver was appointed president of the UP in 1866. The railroad was completed in 1869.<ref>{{cite book| title=Nothing Like It In The World; The Men who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863–1869 | url=https://archive.org/details/nothinglikeitinw00ambr | url-access=registration |author=Ambrose, Stephen E.|year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-84609-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nothinglikeitinw00ambr/page/363 363–368]}}</ref>
In 1872, it was disclosed Ames sold shares in Credit Mobilier to fellow congressmen at a price greatly below the market value of the stock. The subsequent public scandal led to a House investigation, which formally recommended expulsion. On February 28, 1873, the House passed a resolution formally [[Censure in the United States|censuring]] Ames "in seeking to secure congressional attention to the affairs of a corporation in which he was interested, and whose interest directly depended upon the legislation of Congress, by inducing members of Congress to invest in the stocks of said corporation."<ref>United States Congress, Washington, D.C. [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000175 "Ames, Oakes, (1804 - 1873)."] ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.'' Accessed December 26, 2011.</ref> Detractors referred to him as "Hoax Ames".<ref>Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Northampton, MA. [http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=139 "Ames brothers celebrate 'Golden Spike.'] ''Mass Moments.'' Accessed December 26, 2011.</ref> Ames died soon afterward at [[Easton, Massachusetts|North Easton, Massachusetts]], May 5, 1873, due to a stroke.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oakes Ames {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tcrr-ames/ |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
On May 10, 1883, the 14th anniversary of the completion of the railroad, the [[Massachusetts General Court|state legislature of Massachusetts]] passed a resolution exonerating Ames.<ref name=amer/> His son [[Oliver Ames (governor)|Oliver Ames]] served as [[Governor of Massachusetts|Governor]] from 1887 to 1890.<ref>Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA. [http://www.mass.gov/portal/government-taxes/laws/interactive-state-house/historical/governors-of-massachusetts/commonwealth-of-massachusetts-1850-1900/oliver-ames-1831-1895.html "Oliver Ames (1831-1895)."] Accessed December 26, 2011.</ref>
==Honors== [[Image:Oakes Ames (1804-1873).JPG|thumb|right|250px|Oakes Ames]] The contributions of Ames and his brother Oliver in the building of the Union Pacific are commemorated in the [[Oliver and Oakes Ames Monument]] at Sherman Summit, near [[Laramie, Wyoming]], along the original route. The [[pyramid]]al monument was designed by famous architect [[Henry Hobson Richardson]] (who designed a number of projects for the Ames family) with sculpted plaques of the Ames brothers by [[Augustus Saint-Gaudens]]. At the time of its construction, the monument was located at the highest point attained by the UP's transcontinental route. With a change in the route of the railroad, the monument today is not on any major transportation route.
The city of [[Ames, Iowa|Ames]], Iowa is named for Oakes,<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA37|year=1908|page=37}}</ref> as is likely the community of [[Ames, Nebraska|Ames]], Nebraska, and Ames Avenue in [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]].
==See also== * [[Oakes Ames Memorial Hall]] (Easton, Massachusetts) * [[Ames Free Library]] (Easton, Massachusetts) * [[Ames Shovel Shop]] * [[Ames family]] * [[List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded]] * [[List of federal political scandals in the United States]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''Oakes Ames: A Memoir.'' (Cambridge, 1884) {{OCLC|3574882}} * {{cite book|last=White|author-link=Richard White (historian)|first=Richard|title=Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|date=2011|isbn=978-0-393-06126-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/railroadedtransc00whit_0}}
== External links == *[http://www.orchids.co.in/orchidologists/oakes-ames.shtm Oakes Ames] Work on orchids by Oakes Ames's grandson, Oakes Angier Ames Jr. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20011030224614/http://www.nps.gov/gosp/research/ames.html National Park Service] site on Oliver and Oakes Ames *[https://web.archive.org/web/20031229095752/http://www.sgnhs.org/Augustus%20SGaudens%20CD-HTML/Monuments/PortraitsStatues/AmesMonument.htm Oliver and Oakes Ames Monument] in Wyoming *[http://oasis.harvard.edu/html/hua08003.html Harvard University] papers of Oakes Ames *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040910161349/http://www.ames.lib.ia.us/farwell/publication/Pub573.htm Iowa State University] Oakes Ames photographs *[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tcrr-credit-mobilier-scandal/ PBS] the Credit Mobilier Scandal *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150930052654/http://www.spencermarks.com/html/ames_family.html Spencer Marks] The Ames Family of North [[Easton, Massachusetts]] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024558/http://www.historicunitychurch.com/Ames%20Family/Ames%201.htm Historic Unity Church] Ames Family Tree *{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Ames, Oakes|year=1900 |short=x |notaref=x}} * {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Ames, Oakes |volume= 1 |pages=104-105 |short=1}} {{Commons category|Oakes Ames}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-bef|before=[[James Buffinton]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Massachusetts|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district]]|years=1863–1873}} {{s-aft|after=[[Benjamin W. Harris]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}} {{Griffon Corporation}} {{USRepMA}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Oakes}} [[Category:1804 births]] [[Category:1873 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American business executives in rail transportation]] [[Category:American financiers]] [[Category:American investors]] [[Category:American businesspeople in manufacturing]] [[Category:American railway entrepreneurs]] [[Category:Ames, Iowa]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Butler–Ames family|Oakes]] [[Category:Censured or reprimanded United States representatives]] [[Category:Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council]] [[Category:People from Easton, Massachusetts]] [[Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Union Pacific Railroad people]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]