Ames, Nathaniel, 1708–64, American almanac maker, b. Bridgewater, Mass. His Astronomical Diary and Almanack, begun in 1725 and issued annually after c.1732 from Dedham, Mass., was highly popular and served as a model for Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack and later almanacs. It had a circulation of 60,000 copies. After Ames's death it was continued until 1795 by his son Nathaniel, Jr. The elder Ames was a physician and also after 1750 landlord of the Sun Tavern at Dedham. He was the father of Fisher Ames.
See S. Briggs, ed., The Essays, Humor, and Poems of Nathaniel Ames (1891, repr. 1969).
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