Nathaniel Ames

Nathaniel Ames
The Ames Tavern as drawn in 1891 based on the memory of Dedham's oldest resident.
Born	(1708-07-22)July 22, 1708 Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Died	July 11, 1764(1764-07-11) (aged 55) Dedham
Education	informal
Occupation	Almanac maker and Physician
Spouse(s)	Susannah and Deborah
Children	Six
Parent(s)	Capt. Nathaniel Ames and Susannah (Howard)

Nathaniel Ames (July 22, 1708 – July 11, 1764), American almanac-maker and physician, published the first annual American almanac. He was the son of Nathaniel Ames first (1677–1736) and the father of Nathaniel third. The family was descended from William Ames of Bruton, Somerset, England, whose son William emigrated to Massachusetts and settled at Braintree as early as 1640.

Captain Nathaniel Ames, father of this entry’s subject, lived at Bridgewater and there married Susannah Howard on December 2, 1702. Six children were born to them, of whom Nathaniel second was the eldest son. His father is said to have been learned in astronomy and mathematics, as well as practicing medicine. Nothing is known of his son's education, but he became a physician, probably without other medical training than instruction from his father, apprenticeship to some country doctor, and reading medical volumes.

In 1725 he published the first annual number of his almanac, which was to become famous and remain the standard New England almanac for a half-century. At this time, he was still living at home in Bridgewater, and although the almanac bears on the title-page "by Nathaniel Ames, Jr.," it may well be that the boy, then only seventeen years old, received some help from his mathematical parent. He is said to have moved to Dedham in 1732 and his name is entered from that place on the list of subscribers to Prince's Chronology, to which most of the subscriptions were made in 1728. On September 14, 1735, he married Mary, daughter of Capt. Joshua Fisher of Dedham, by whom, on October 24, 1737, he had a son, Fisher Ames, who died less than a year later, on September 17, 1738, surviving his mother, however, who had died on November 11, 1737.

Ames’ wife had owned a tavern and the situation gave rise to Ames v. Gay, one of the famous lawsuits of New England. Ames (a compulsively litigious man) claimed inheritance to her estate according to the Province law through their son Fisher against his mother-in-law Hannah, who claimed the rights to it under the Common law, a struggle continued by her family after she died in December 1744. In August 1749 Ames won the case, and thus established an exception to the rule of inheritance in Massachusetts. However, two of the eleven Superior Court of Judicature justices were against him, leading the normally amiable Ames to an especially vituperative stance against lawyers for the rest of his career. He took down his tavern sign and replaced it with a cartoon of the judges, all easily identifiable. Each was shown studying the Province laws, except the two dissenters, who had their backs turned to the law books. Chief Justice Paul Dudley, one of the dissenters, sent the sheriff to arrest Ames and confiscate the libelous portrait. Ames was warned and quickly substituted Matt. 16:4: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it.”