The Beginnings
The first of the Ames family in this country were two
brothers, John and William, who came from Bruton, Somersetshire, England. They settled in Braintree,
Massachusetts. John married Elizabeth Hayward but they had no children. William married Hannah
(Alden), said to be the daughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. The Ames Family Chart lists their descendant
through 1850.
Leaving Home
William's g-g-grandson, Sylvanus Ames, graduated from Harvard, became an Episcopal priest, served
in the Revolution and died in the freeze at Valley Forge in 1778. Several of Sylvanus' sons
moved to the "frontier" in Ohio. They settled Amesville in SE Ohio and were instrumental in
founding Ohio University. Sylvanus' grandson, Charles Bingley Ames, graduated from there and
moved to Alabama where he taught school for a time at Eclectic, AL. After the treaty of Dancing
Rabbit in 1833, he moved to Macon in Noxubee County.
Noxubee County
In Macon, Charles Bingley Ames began as a lawyer. In the Census of 1840 he is listed as being in
his 20s and living along. When he was 42 he married Sarah Jane Longstreet, then 24. They had 2
sons and 3 daughters. He went on to become a Judge, Master of his Masonic Lodge and served in
the Confederate Army on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. More details are on their
Family Page.
Kith and Kin
Some of the families with whom their descendants married are:
Allen,
Boykin,
Nicholson,
Patty,
Rhymes,
Turner,
Wells,
Williams,
Yates,
and others.
Many of their descendants are listed on their
website.
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