Biography
Ames was born in North Easton, Massachusetts. He was apprenticed in his father's shovel factory, and was later educated at Brown University. In 1863, he became a partner in Ames & Sons. For ten years, he superintended the mechanical business of the establishment, and on his father's death assumed control of his numerous financial trusts, including shares in the Union Pacific Railroad.
As his father's heir, Ames spent several years in paying off the obligations of millions of dollars incurred by the Union Pacific Railroad and other undertakings. He entered public life avowedly to vindicate his father's memory: he was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts 1882-86, in 1883 obtained the vindicatory resolution he sought, and from 1886 to 1888 was governor.
Together with his brother Oakes Angier Ames, Oliver created many important buildings and landscapes in North Easton with architect H. H. Richardson and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted.
Read more about this topic: Oliver Ames
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
—Rebecca West [Cicily Isabel Fairfield] (1892–1983)
“A biography is like a handshake down the years, that can become an arm-wrestle.”
—Richard Holmes (b. 1945)
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (1740–95)