Charles Gordon Ames (3 October 1828 – 15 April 1912) was an American Unitarian clergyman, editor and lecturer.

Biography

He was a foundling, adopted by his parents when he was three years old. Ames spent his early years on a farm and in a printing-office in New Hampshire. He graduated from the

Geauga Seminary The Geauga Seminary (also known as Western Reserve Labor Seminary) was a Free Will Baptist school in Chester Township, Geauga County, Ohio. President James Garfield attended the Seminary. History The school was founded in 1842 by the Western Rese ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and was ordained in 1849 as a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England. In 1702, Paul Palm ...

, and became the founding minister for a church of that sect in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1851. He was secretary of the founding meeting of the Minnesota branch of the Republican Party in 1854, and from 1855 to 1857 edited the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

''Republican'', the first Republican paper in the Northwest. He found his congregation wanting in the faith and attitude he expected, and after five years he left the Minneapolis church, and, for a time, the ministry. He settled in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1859, became a Unitarian, and later succeeded

James Freeman Clarke James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author. Biography Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though ...

as pastor of the Church of the Disciples there. He edited the '' Christian Register'' of Boston from 1877 to 1880. In 1881, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In 1889 Ames succeeded the Rev. James Freeman Clarke as pastor of the Church of the Disciples (Boston). In 1896 he received the degree of

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

from

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

. In 1863, he married activist Fanny Baker Ames. This was his second marriage: in 1850 he had married Sarah Jane Daniels.

Publications

* (with J. Peter Lesley) * ''

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's Two Marriages'' (1886) * ''As Natural as Life'' (1894) * ''Poems'' (1898) * ''Sermons of Sunrise'' (1901) * ''Five Points of Faith'' (1903)

Notes

References

External links

*
A collection of sermons
written by Charles Gordon Ames and collected by Ellen M. Shumway are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

.
Letters
to

Clara Bancroft Beatley Clara Bancroft Beatley ( Bancroft; January 12, 1858 – October 20, 1923) was an American educator, lecturer, and author, as well as a clubwoman and suffragist. As a descendant of staunch Unitarianism, Unitarians, for many years, she served as th ...

from Charles Gordon Ames are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at

. *Papers of Charles Gordon Ames form part of th
Ames family historical collectionSchlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Charles Gordon 1828 births 1912 deaths American Unitarian clergy American editors 19th-century American clergy 20th-century American clergy