''Ames' Almanack'' (almanac) was the first

almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...

printed in the British North American colonies. While

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's ''

Poor Richard's Almanack ''Poor Richard's Almanack'' (sometimes ''Almanac'') was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. ...

'' is more widely known, the ''Ames' Almanack'' had a much larger readership. Franklin's publication had a circulation of 10,000 copies compared to 60,000 for the ''Ames' Almanack''.

History

Nathaniel Ames Nathaniel Ames (July 22, 1708 – July 11, 1764) was a Thirteen Colonies, colonial American physician who published a popular series of annual almanacs. He was the son of Nathaniel Ames first (1677–1736) and the father of Nathaniel Ames (thi ...

, a second generation colonial American, was the founder and publisher of the ''Ames' Almanac''. The first edition was published when Ames was seventeen. His family owned Ames Tavern, which was often advertised in the almanac. Upon Ames' death in 1764, his son, also

Nathaniel Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Hebrew name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. ...

, took over and continued to publish the almanac until 1775. The younger Nathaniel strongly supported the

Anti-Federalist The Anti-Federalists were a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles ...

cause, unlike his brother,

Fisher Ames Fisher Ames (; April 9, 1758 – July 4, 1808) was a Representative in the United States Congress from the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts. He became conspicuous in promoting the new Constitution during his state's ratifying co ...

, who was a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

congressman. Correspondence between Ames and

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

in 1753 attests that Sherman wrote some of the mathematical portions of the almanac.

Intellectual property

With no real intellectual property enforcement, readers frequently copied from the almanac. This led to bickering among printers as to who published the genuine edition of ''Ames' Almanack.'' Ames was asked to certify the original version.

Legacy

Ames wrote during a time of growing American nationalism and this was reflected in the annual almanacs. In 1775, when the American Revolution began, the almanac published a manual on how to make

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

so that every man could supply himself "with a sufficiency of that commodity." As

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

wrote to Congress, the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

was "exceedingly destitute" of gunpowder. Ames took a stand on the religious

Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...

running through the colonies in the early 18th century. The Great Awakening challenged the traditional authority of the congregationalist church.

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke Coll ...

, an English evangelist, stirred up controversy in the colonies with his sermons. In 1741, Ames satirized critics of Whitefield in "To the Scoffers at Mr. Whitefield's Preaching." Four years later, Whitefield came to Ames' hometown of Dedham to give one of his sermons. The ''

Old Farmer's Almanac The ''Old Farmer's Almanac'' is an almanac containing weather forecasts, planting charts, ephemeris, astronomical data, recipes, and articles. Topics include gardening, sports, astronomy, folklore, and predictions on fad, trends in fashion, foo ...

'', a popular annual publication in existence since 1792, copied the format used in the ''Ames' Almanack''. This included page headings with the corresponding

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

sign; left margin noting movable feasts, lines from a poem relevant to that month; phases of the moon; weather predictions; and anniversaries. Some early colonists used the blank pages of the almanac to keep personal diaries. The

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

collection in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

holds at least two of these diaries, including that of Reverend Thomas Balch (1759). Ebenezer Gay, a pastor at the Church at Hingham in

Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...

similarly recorded his visits to Boston and days of prayer in his copy of the ''Ames Almanack''.

References

{{Dedham Almanacs History of Dedham, Massachusetts 18th-century books Agriculture books American non-fiction books