Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Which position did Oliver Ames (governor) hold from 1883 to 1887?
Oliver Ames ( governor ) Oliver Ames ( February 4 , 1831 – October 22 , 1895 ) was an American businessman , investor , philanthropist , and Republican politician who served as the 35th Governor of Massachusetts from 1887 to 1890 . Amess public life was primarily devoted to the vindication of his late father Oakes Ames , a businessman and U.S . Representative who was censured for his role the 1873 Credit Mobilier scandal and died shortly thereafter . His tenure in office was also marked by a divide within the state over the growing temperance movement . Ames was executor of his fathers estate , and took over many of his business interests . He was a major philanthropist , especially in his hometown of Easton , where he secured construction of a number of architecturally significant works by the architect H.H . Richardson and a number of properties by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted . Early life and education . Oliver Ames was born in Easton , Massachusetts on February 4 , 1831 to Eveline Orville ( née Gilmore ) and Oakes Ames . His father was the owner ( with his father and brother , each also named Oliver ) of Ames Shovel Shop , the largest manufacturer of shovels in the United States . Ames was educated in the local schools , and then attended private academies in North Attleborough and Leicester . He was briefly employed at the family factory before enrolling at Brown University in 1851 . He spent three years there in a custom-designed program overseen by university president Francis Wayland . Business career . After leaving Brown , Ames entered the family business , learning all aspects of its manufacturing processes and worked as a traveling salesman . Ames served in the Massachusetts militia , rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel , but resigned before the American Civil War began . During the war , he oversaw the companys manufacturing department , expanding the business and making the manufacturing processes more efficient . The family also invested in railroads and other industrial concerns . Oliver became a partner in the company when his grandfather Oliver Ames Sr . died in 1863 . Credit Mobilier scandal and death of Oakes Ames . Oakes and Oliver Ames Jr. , Amess father and uncle , were leading figures in the Union Pacific Railroad as well as principals in Crédit Mobilier of America , a shell corporation established by Union Pacific insiders to siphon profits from the railroads construction . While a member of Congress , Oakes Ames sold shares of Crédit Mobiler to other Congressmen well below their estimated market value . When this was exposed in 1872 , a congressional committee determined it a bribe for the purpose of influencing railroad legislation . The scandal resulted in Oakes Amess censure and he died not long afterward . Ames inherited his fathers fortune , nationwide network of business interests , and $6–8 million in debt related to the scandal . He was also co-executor to his fathers estate . Over a period of years , Ames was able to pay off the debts , provide more than $1 million in bequests , and divide the estate amongst the heirs . Legal battle with Jay Gould . In 1875 , financier Jay Gould gained control of the Union Pacific , while a group of Ames-dominated Boston investors retained control of Crédit Mobilier . Crédit Mobilier remained mired in legal action related to the scandal , and its shares were a major component of Oakes Amess estate . The companys only major asset was a $2 million note against UP , and Ames instigated legal action to recover its value . Gould and Union Pacific countersued and conducted a hostile takeover of Crédit Mobilier , ousting Ames from the companys board and discontinuing its lawsuit . Ames launched legal action as a shareholder , and succeeded in forcing CM into receivership in 1879 with himself as the receiver . Their legal wrangling largely subsided in 1880 , when most of the holdout shareholders were bought out by Gould . During their fight , Ames sold Gould his controlling interest in the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad , a separate paper railroad chartered to provide service in Kansas , at $250 per share . Ames made a large profit on the sale , which Gould purchased in order to assemble the pieces of a full transcontinental rail network under the Union Pacific umbrella . Early political career . Ames entered public life intent on vindicating his late fathers memory . His early political activities included sitting on Eastons School Committee and chairing the local Republican Party committee . State Senator . He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in 1879 and saw to the incorporation of the new town of Cottage City , where he owned a summer home . He also sat on the committees overseeing railroads and schools . Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts ( 1883–86 ) . In 1882 , Ames was nominated for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts . Though he won his race , Republican Robert R . Bishop lost the gubernatorial election to Democrat Benjamin Butler in a bitterly divisive contest . Ames served from 1883 to 1886 under Butler ( 1883 ) and Republican George D . Robinson ( 1884–86 ) . In 1883 , the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution exonerating Amess father and calling on Congress to reverse his censure . While in office , he also states divestment from the New York , New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the Hoosac Tunnel at 1/3 of par value . He was at first criticized for the relatively low price , but it was later seen to be a good deal . Governor of Massachusetts ( 1887–90 ) . With Governor Robinson retiring in 1886 , Ames won election as Governor of Massachusetts and served three one-year terms . A major political issues in his first two campaigns was his resignation from the state militia before the American Civil War . Ames countered criticisms by pointing out that he had hired a substitute to serve in his place and had financially supported the Union war effort . As governor , Ames was a competent administrator , hiring and promoting more on the basis of merit than politics . In 1887 he signed a bill exempting military veterans from recently enacted civil service regulations , earning him the ire of the states progressives . A project to expand the Massachusetts State House was approved during his tenure , and he in 1889 helped lay the cornerstone for its new elements . Education . He advocated the improvement of public schools , as a counter to private religious schools . During his second term , he donated $1,000 to the College of the Holy Cross , which upset anti-Catholics in the state and cost him votes in his third election against William E . Russell . Temperance . Ames supported the work of the Massachusetts Temperance Society but was opposed to the legislated prohibition of alcohol . He became unpopular with advocates of temperance . In 1889 , the legislature passed a state constitutional amendment enacting prohibition , but it was voted down in the required popular referendum that followed . Retirement and death . In 1888 , his health began to fail , probably due to the strain of office and his business interests . He refused to run for reelection in 1889 , continuing a party tradition of three-term governors . After leaving office , he traveled to Europe several times to relax and recover his health . He died at his North Easton home in 1895 . Personal life and legacy . Family . Ames married Anna Coffin Ray of Nantucket in 1860 . The couple had six children . Their youngest son , Oakes Ames , was a well-known American botanist and orchid expert who owned palatial properties in Boston , Marthas Vineyard , and North Easton . Honors . Ames was elected an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1917 , by the fraternitys Alpha Chapter at the New England Conservatory in Boston . He is the only known member to receive such a posthumous offer . Legacy . Ames was a major financier of Eastons public high school , and it is named Oliver Ames High School in his honor . He is also the namesake of the small community of Oliver , Nebraska and of the schooner Governor Ames , in which he was invested . With his cousin Frederick Lothrop Ames , Ames financed the construction of many projects designed by architect H . H . Richardson and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted in North Easton , including Oakes Ames Memorial Hall and the Ames Free Library . The site of these properties is now the H . H . Richardson Historic District of North Easton , a National Historic Landmark District . Ames was a patron of sports and the arts . He owned Booths Theatre in New York City and raised funds to send members of the Boston Athletic Association to the 1896 Summer Olympics .