Ames, Samuel
lawyer, jurist, author, was born Sept. 6, 1806, in Providence, R. I. He was prepared for college at Phillips Andover academy, and was graduated at Brown in 1823. After graduation he attended the law lectures of Judge Gould at Litchfield, Conn., and became a member of the Rhode Island bar in 1826. He served in the Providence city council; was for many years in the state assembly; and was elected speaker of that body in 1844 and 1845. In 1853 he was appointed by the legislature to represent the state in adjusting the boundary between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 1855 he was one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of Rhode Island, a work that was completed in 1857 mainly under his supervision. He was elected chief justice of the state supreme court in May, 1856, and resigned the office in November, 1865, because of failing health. He was a delegate to the peace convention in 1861. The law books of which he was author or editor are: Agnell and Ames on Corporations, and Rhode Island Reports, volumes 4 to 7. He died Dec. 20, 1865, in Providence, R. I.