Edward Raymond Ames (1806 - 1879)

Born 20 May 1806 in Amesville, Athens County, Ohio, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Henrietta (Beach) Ames — married 30 Oct 1846 in Marion, Indiana, United States

Descendants

Died 15 May 1879 at age 72 in Baltimore, Maryland

Biography

Edward was born in 1806. He died in 1879. ^[1]

Categories: 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (3 months, 1861); Methodist; Notable

Edward Raymond Ames was one of 12 children born to Sylvanus Ames II and Abigail Lee Johnson on May 20th, 1806. He became a prominent Methodist Minister, was a confidant of President Lincoln and covered more than 25,000 miles in his ministry. He was especially know for his work with the Native Americans and in the Southern States after the Civil War.

He was married twice. First to Henrietta Beach in January, 1834 and then to Mahala Hanson Porter on October 30, 1846.

With Henrietta there were three children born - Annie, 1835-1927, Laura, 1839-1880 and Edward Jr, 1844-1882.

Edward died from complications with diabetes in Baltimore Maryland on May 15, 1879. He is buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA.

Other Biographical information:

U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles about Edward Raymond Ames Name: Edward Raymond Ames Residence: Marion County, Indiana Enlistment Date: 22 Apr 1861 Rank at enlistment: Corporal State Served: Indiana Survived the War?: Yes Service Record: Enlisted in Company B, Indiana 11th Infantry Regiment on 22 Apr 1861. Mustered out on 04 Aug 1861 at Indianapolis, IN. Commissioned an officer in the Regular Army 7th Infantry Regiment on 06 Mar 1862. Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 06 Mar 1862. Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 28 Aug 1863. Promoted to Full Captain on 07 Oct 1864.

PART I Distinguished Indianians

page XIV

BISHOP AMES. Right Rev. Edward Raymond Ames, D. D., LL. D., was born in Amesville, Ohio, May 20, 1806, and died in Baltimore, April, 1879. He is known as the "statesman bishop." He was a leader of men.

Shortly after he was graduated from Ohio University he founded McKendree College; was ordained a minister at Vincennes, Indiana, in 1830; was made presiding elder and elected a delegate to the General Conference within ten years.

At thirty-four he was missionary secretary, the youngest man ever elected to that office. The Choctaw Nation made him their chaplain in 1842. He was the first to hold such an office. The Indians called him "Black Thunder."

In 1852 the General Conference elected him bishop and he was the first Methodist bishop to visit California. During the Civil War Bishop Ames was close to Lincoln, who sought his advice on important matters. He served with Hamilton Fish on the first commission appointed to arrange for an exchange of prisoners. He declined the offer of the Democratic party to make him a United States senator and also declined a portfolio in Lincoln's cabinet. Senator Voorhees said that Bishop Ames was a power in Indiana politics long after he removed to Baltimore.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Raymond Ames

Edward Raymond Ames from Who-When-What Book, 1900

Born: May 20, 1806 Amesville, Ohio

Died: May 15, 1879 (aged 72) Baltimore, Maryland

Occupation American chaplain

Edward Raymond Ames (May 20, 1806 – May 15, 1879) was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1852.

Contents [hide] 1 Birth and family 2 Education and ministry 3 Native American work 4 Episcopal ministry 5 Death and burial 6 See also 7 References

Birth and family[edit]

Ames was born in Amesville, Athens County, Ohio, one of three Methodist Episcopal Bishops to be born in Athens County.

Education and ministry[edit]

At age 20, Ames became a student at Ohio University at Athens. During his student years he united with the M.E. Church (August 1827). In 1828 he opened a high school in Lebanon, Illinois which later became McKendree University. He taught there until 1830, when he became a Pastor in the Illinois Annual Conference. He was Licensed to Preach by the Circuit Rider (and Presiding Elder), Peter Cartwright.

Upon the organization of the Indiana Conference in 1832, Ames joined that body, serving the majority of his active pastoral life in the State of Indiana (with the exception of two years spent in St. Louis), until becoming a Bishop.

Ames was elected a Delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held in Baltimore in 1840, and was there elected Corresponding Secretary of the M.E. Missionary Society, with responsibilities for the South and West. When the Church South broke with the Church North over slavery, he remained with the M.E. Church. The Rev. Ames was subsequently elected Delegate to General Conferences in 1844 and 1852.

Native American work[edit]

Ames traveled extensively, especially visiting the Indian Missions of his denomination along the northern lakes and on the western frontier. He aided in establishing missions schools among the various tribes west of Arkansas. In 1848 he officiated as chaplain to a Council of Choctaws, being the first chaplain chosen by an Indian Assembly.

Ames was elected President of Indiana Asbury University in 1848, as well. But he declined the position, preferring to remain in more active ministerial work.

Episcopal ministry[edit]

Ames was elected to the Episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the 1852 General Conference. He thereafter traveled extensively through all the U.S. States and Territories. His first visit to the Pacific coast was 1852-53.

Ames was a firm supporter of the Union during the American Civil War. Though offered positions of influence, he declined them that he might be free for ecclesiastical duties. For example, when the United States government seized the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (in Southern United States), Ames was put in charge of the confiscated property by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Such confiscation resulted in complaints of unconstitutional governmental involvement in religion.

Death and burial[edit]

Ames' health was impaired for several years, but he continued his work until a few weeks before his death. He died in Baltimore, Maryland. He is buried in Greenmount Cemetery in that city.

U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles about Edward Raymond Ames Name: Edward Raymond Ames Residence: Marion County, Indiana Enlistment Date: 22 Apr 1861 Rank at enlistment: Corporal State Served: Indiana Survived the War?: Yes Service Record: Enlisted in Company B, Indiana 11th Infantry Regiment on 22 Apr 1861. Mustered out on 04 Aug 1861 at Indianapolis, IN. Commissioned an officer in the Regular Army 7th Infantry Regiment on 06 Mar 1862. Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 06 Mar 1862. Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 28 Aug 1863. Promoted to Full Captain on 07 Oct 1864.

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 13 February 2021), memorial page for Rev Edward Raymond Ames (20 May 1806–25 Apr 1879), Find A Grave: Memorial #45563945, citing Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA; maintained by Sheryl Smith Miller (contributor 47208755), heastone and portrait photos.

• "Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFX7-GTG : accessed 22 November 2015), Edward R. Ames and Mahala H. Porter, 30 Oct 1846; citing reference no 4 p 327; FHL microfilm 499,367.
• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Raymond_Ames
• http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=3C3FF07A-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A
• "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSWL-4JX : accessed 22 November 2015), Edward R. Ames, Corporal, Company B, 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (3 months, 1861), Union; citing NARA microfilm publication M540 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 2; FHL microfilm 881,723.
• Distinguished Indianans
• U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles