Butler Ames
Butler Ames circa 1908[1]
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913
Preceded byWilliam Shadrach Knox
Succeeded byJohn Jacob Rogers
Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 27th Middlesex district
In office
January 5, 1898 – January 1, 1901
Serving with Frank H. Farmer (1898–99)
John T. Sparks (1899–1901)
Preceded byCharles E. Hosmer
Edward A. Stevens
Succeeded byChester W. Clark
William H. Downs
Personal details
Born(1871-08-22)August 22, 1871
Lowell, Massachusetts
DiedNovember 6, 1954(1954-11-06) (aged 83)
Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Resting placeHildreth Family Cemetery
Lowell, Massachusetts
Political partyRepublican
EducationPhillips Exeter Academy
Alma materUnited States Military Academy at West Point
Massachusetts Institute of Technology[1]
Occupationmechanical and electrical engineer[1]
Signature
Military service
AllegianceUnited States United States
Branch/serviceUnited States United States Army
Years of service1894, 1898–1899
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/warsSpanish–American War

Butler Ames (August 22, 1871 – November 6, 1954) was an American politician, engineer, soldier and businessman. He was the son of Adelbert Ames and grandson of Benjamin Franklin Butler, both decorated generals in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Ames attended the public schools and Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1894. He resigned from the United States Army after appointment as second lieutenant to the Eleventh Regiment, United States Infantry; took a postgraduate course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a member of Theta Xi fraternity, and graduated in 1896 as a mechanical and electrical engineer.

Ames engaged in manufacturing; served as a member of the common council of Lowell in 1896; like his father, he re-joined the Army during the Spanish–American War and was commissioned lieutenant and adjutant of the Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; appointed acting engineer officer of the Second Army Corps under General Graham, in addition to his duties as adjutant. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in August 1898; served as civil administrator of the Arecibo district of Puerto Rico until November 1898.

Ames' former residence in Washington, D.C.

Ames became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1897–1899; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913); was not a candidate for renomination in 1912; resumed manufacturing pursuits; president of United States Cartridge Company, and treasurer of Heinze Electrical Co. of Lowell; at time of death was treasurer and a director of Wamesit Power Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts; director of Union Land and Grazing Co., Colorado Springs, Colorado, and vice president and a director of Ames Textile in Lowell.[2]

Ames was completely taken with Villa del Balbianello when he visited Europe for the first time in 1911, and he determined to purchase the Villa. Ames almost lost the Villa to Prince Eithel-Friedrich, the Kaiser's youngest son, in 1914. The Villa did not sell to Eithel-Friedrich due to an Italian law stating that as the Villa was one of the art monuments of Italy, they had the right to be the preferred purchaser at that price. Ames won his battle in 1919, beautifully restoring the Villa. On a Dictaphone Tape he tells the story (also a short autobiography). The Tape was transcribed, and his greater family published it in book form: "Butler Ames and the Villa Balbianello, Lake Como, Italy, An American Oral History." Essays and introductions by Evelyn Ames, Pauline Ames Plimpton, Ezio Antonini, Sarah and George Plimpton plus period photographs and the illustrated Guest Book 1920 to 1970 was added. The book was edited by Oakes Plimpton and printed by Hobblebush Press, 2009, available through Amazon Books or Oakes Plimpton, 67 Coolidge Road, Arlington, MA 02476.

Ames died in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, in 1954, at the age of 83. He is buried, along with his father, grandfather and extended family, in the Hildreth family cemetery, behind the main cemetery on Hildreth Street in Lowell.

His heirs sold Villa del Balbianello in 1974 to Guido Monzino.[3]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

  1. 1 2 3 Who's who in State Politics, 1908, Boston, Massachusetts: Practical Politics, 1908, p. 10
  2. ↑ "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 49. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Villa del Balbianello" Friends of FAI Archived 2016-06-10 at the Wayback Machine retrieved May 20, 2016
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.