Oakes AMES, Congress, MA (1804-1873)

AMES Oakes , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Easton, Mass., January 10, 1804; attended the public schools and Dighton (Mass.) Academy; engaged in the manufacture of shovels in North Easton; member of the executive council of Massachusetts in 1860; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1873); was not a candidate for renomination to the Forty-third Congress in 1872; instrumental in accomplishing the construction of the first transcontinental railroad; censured by the House of Representatives on February 27, 1873, for "seeking to procure congressional attention to the affairs of a corporation in which he was interested," which was in connection with the Crédit Mobilier; in 1883 the legislature of Massachusetts passed resolutions of gratitude for his work and faith in his integrity and petitioned the United States Congress to extend him a like acknowledgment; died in North Easton, Mass., May 8, 1873; interment in Unity Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present