Frederick Lothrop Ames

The Ames family was a wealthy family which had lived in Easton for many generations. Frederick's grandfather Oliver Ames Sr. founded the Ames Shovel Works in Easton, Massachusetts. The Shovel Works earned the family a huge fortune, during a time when aggressive canal and railroad expansion was built by the hands of thousands of men using shovels. Frederick's father Oliver Jr. was president of the Union Pacific Railroad during the building of the transcontinental railroad. Frederick's cousin Oliver Ames was governor of Massachusetts 1887–1890. ==Biography==

Frederick Lothrop Ames was born June 8, 1835, in Easton, Massachusetts, the only son of Oliver Ames Jr. and Sarah Lothrop. ==Business interests==

Ames was Vice President of the Old Colony Railroad and director of the Union Pacific Railroad. The work is called Angel of Help. Frederick (and others in the Ames family) commissioned architect Henry Hobson Richardson to build several buildings. Perhaps the most notable was the Ames Building in Boston, built by Richardson's firm after his death. It was for many years the tallest skyscraper in Boston. Orchids Ames was also an avid amateur orchid gardener, an interest which he shared with his nephew, professional botanist Oakes Ames. Frederick's collection of orchids was considered one of the finest in the country. The orchid amesianus was named in honor of both Frederick and Oakes. Ames was a generous donor to Harvard's Arnold Arboretum and a vice president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. He was a member of the corporation of Harvard University at the time of his death. Politics Ames was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in 1872 "in his absence and without his knowledge." He served one term as a Republican. ==Death and legacy==

Ames died suddenly aboard his steamboat Pilgrim sometime early in the morning of September 13, 1893 en route to Fall River, Massachusetts. He went to bed "in the best of health and spirits" but was found dead the following morning. The cause was reported to be cerebral apoplexy, a condition which would later be called a stroke. ==See also==