HERMES LUTHER AMES – Touching the life of his community in the intimate manner only possible in rural districts, serving his fellows in many offices of public trust, gathering about him a host of loyal friends of all ages and conditions, devoting himself with loving consideration to his family, this was the Hermes Luther Ames long known in Chautauqua County, whose untimely death resulting from accident had the effect of a general loss, bringing heavy sorrow in the many circles in which he moved.  At the time of his death he was in his third term as representative of his district in the State Assembly, and his business interests were principally in agriculture, dairying, and real estate.

Mr. Ames was a descendant of a New England family, his father, Ezra Wales Ames and his grandfather, Luther Ames, both natives of Vermont.  Hermes Luther Ames was born in Carroll, New York, October 28, 1865, and after attending district schools became a student in Jamestown High School.  During vacations he took courses in the summer school at Chautauqua and as a young man of eighteen years was well qualified for teaching, a calling he followed for about fifteen years, much of that time in the Falconer High School.  Leaving pedagogical work at the end of this time, he became associated with the Falconer Milling Company, with which he was identified until about 1910, during this time conducting real estate operations on a small scale and acquiring several farms and an interest in a business block in Falconer.  Prior to his death he had dealt extensively in hay.

Mr. Ames was placed in public office by the votes of his fellows on many occasions, and his record bears the closest scrutiny without revealing the slightest deviation from faithful and able service.  On March 18, 1910, he was appointed supervisor of Ellicott to succeed Conrad Anderson, deceased, and has been successively reelected to that position, serving as chairman of the board in 1914 and 1915, and at various times on nearly all of its important committees.  His interest in the cause of education led naturally to his long service on the Falconer Board of Education.  He was later a member of the board of trustees, and in 1916 was elected president of the village.

Mr. Ames was a firm believer in Republican principles, and as the candidate of this party was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature in 1917.  In 1918 and 1919 the First Assembly District gave him the combined Republican, Democratic, and Socialist support, and his success as a candidate for the fourth term is almost assured.  In the Assembly he was placed on several leading committees, including excise and internal affairs.  The severest critic could find no fault with his capable manner of furthering local interests, while his stand on matters of state and national significance was that of a thoughtful, progressive, far-visioned legislator, alive to the trend and needs of the times, dedicated to conscientious fulfillment of the trust reposed in him.  There are no brighter spots in his long career in public office than his outspoken championship of prohibition and woman suffrage, and his vote is recorded in favor of both of these history-making amendments to the Federal Constitution.

He enjoyed the associations of fraternal organizations and was a member of Chadakoin Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Falconer, and the Fraternal Order of the Eagles.  He was also a member of the Union Grange, the Dairyman’s League, the Hay Growers’ Association, and the United Commercial Travelers’ Association.  Wherever his influence extended, and there were few things effecting the welfare of his fellowmen that did not interest him, he was respected and loved for virtues of mind and heart.  There is no human relation that better tests the true fibre of character than the verdict passed by children and young people upon intimate acquaintance, and throughout his entire life he was honored by the confidence and friendship of host of these.  Naturalness dominated everything that he said or did, a quality inspired by his close communion with nature in a life spent in the open.

Hermes L. Ames married, June 20, 1894, Minta E. Brunson, born in Ellery, New York, daughter of Oliver A. and Maritta (Lenox) Brunson, her father a native of Stockton, New York, her mother of Gerry, New York.  Oliver A. Brunson was a son of Abel Brunson, born in Connecticut, a farmer by occupation.  Children of Hermes Luther and Minta E. (Brunson) Ames:  Mertie Blanche, married James O. Moyer, and resides in Falconer, New York; and Charles, employed by the New York Central Railroad.

Mr. Ames’ death, August 23, 1920, resulted from an accidental fall while working on his farm, which necessitated the amputation of his right foot.  His death occurred in the Women’s Christian Association Hospital, after a three weeks’ fight for recovery.  The outpouring of spoken and written expressions of sorrow, formal and informal, that followed the announcement of his passing was a faithful index to the hold he had upon the affections of his fellows.  The organization of which he was a member and which he served passed resolution of appreciation and condolences, the village president issued a proclamation requesting the closing of the places of business during the hour of his funeral, the Speaker of the New York State Assembly appointed a committee to represent the Assembly at his funeral, and the press of the region paid extended editorial tribute to his excellence as a man, his faithfulness as a public official, and his worth to the community and state.  The closing paragraph of this record comes from that source:

EZRA WALES AMES — The boys of today have no conception of the hardships endured by the boys of the early or even middle years of the last century in the rural districts of New England. Their schools were frequently several miles from their homes, and there were no electric cars to carry them back and forth; it was necessary to trudge along, day after day, sometimes through ice and snow, or if not that, then through drenching rains. The education thus gained was dearly bought in those days long ago, but the hardships made fine men of them, with determination of character and great perseverance.

Ezra Wales is an example of the kind of man that can be developed from such a strenuous boyhood.  He came from a long line of farming people accustomed to the rigorous life of the Green Mountain State.  His father was Luther Ames, born in Vermont, and his mother was Lydia Thurber, born in Providence, Rhode Island.  They were married, lived and died upon the farm they had regarded as their little world.  Their son, Ezra Wales Ames, was born there, in Marlboro, Windham County, Vermont, June 12, 1841.  His education was a thing of chance; when the winters were not too severe he attended the district school, working on the farm during the late spring, summer, and early fall.  As a boy part of his share of the work was to break the oxen for his father.  When he was fifteen years of age he left home and went to Chautauqua County to work for his uncle, Wilbur Ames, on his farm.  Here he worked all day and part of the night for fourteen dollars a month and his board, part of his daily task being to milk eighteen cows and drive a team of oxen, which is not a very entertaining occupation.  The lad was not tempted to spend his earnings, for there were no railroads in Chautauqua County in those days, so he saved his money.  After two years he bought a yoke of oxen of his own and a stump puller, and pulled stumps for three years.  About this time he had an opportunity to buy lumber, and entering into partnership with a man named Samuel Holiday, they bought and sold lumber. 

Mr. Ames then bought a farm of 160 acres, formerly owned by William Lydle, clearing it and developing it.  He remained upon this farm for twenty years, during which time he built two mills, realizing a fortune from them.  Then came the panic of 1873, those awful times when every day business men went to the wall, often to their graves, because of the loss of a lifetime’s hard earned money.  Among those was Ezra Wales Ames.  He has sold thousands of dollars worth of lumber on notes, which proving to be worthless, and his own liabilities staring him in the face, took every cent of his fortune to make good.  He paid all his creditors every dollar he owed them and started life again, buying the Brown farm and improving it until it was one of the finest in the county.  He remained upon it for twenty-five years, when, his wife dying, he retired and now lives in Falconer, New York.  Mr. Ames votes the Republican ticket but is not a seeker for any office, though at one time he was assessor of the town of Carroll.

Ezra Wales Ames married, August 7, 1861, Loretta M. Woodward, born in Poland, New York.  Her mother was Sallie Harrington, and her father was Pierce Woodward, born in Vermont, but he has lived in Chautauqua County since 1814.  Mr. Woodward bought a farm there at that time and lived upon it all his life, the homestead being still in the possession of the family.  Mr. and Mrs. Ames had two children:  Blanche W. wife of Menzo W. Neate, and Hermes Luther.

Ezra Wales Ames

John Downs writes wonderful tributes to Ezra Wales Ames and Hermes Luther Ames in his book History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People.  Within his words you can see where the farm begins as Ezra rebuilds his life after the Panic of 1873 - "buying the brown farm and improving it until it was one of the finest in the county."  

Downs, John Phillips. (2013). pp. 577-8. History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People (Vol. 2). London: Forgotten Books.

Excerpts from the book

"The boys of today have no conception of the hardships endured by the boys of the early or even middle years of the last century."

Hermes L. Ames made no pretenses of goodness or greatness above that of his fellow-citizens; he went in and out among them and they knew him as an honest man, one who desired to represent their wishes and to serve their interests as best he could, and they gave him freely of their support whenever he asked it.  His ambition was not for high honors, but to faithfully and fairly represent those who chose him to office, whether in village, town, county or state, and he succeeded admirably.

Originally published in 1921

Hermes Luther Amers