Adelbert Ames

Adelbert Ames
27th and 30th Governor of Mississippi
In office January 4, 1874 – March 29, 1876
Lieutenant	Alexander K. Davis
Preceded by	Ridgley C. Powers
Succeeded by	John M. Stone
In office June 15, 1868 – March 10, 1870
Preceded by	Benjamin G. Humphreys
Succeeded by	James L. Alcorn
United States Senator from Mississippi
In office February 23, 1870 – January 10, 1874
Preceded by	Jefferson Davis Secession (vacant until 1870)
Succeeded by	Henry R. Pease
Personal details
Born	(1835-10-31)October 31, 1835 East Thomaston (now Rockland), Maine, U.S.
Died	April 13, 1933(1933-04-13) (aged 97) Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Hildreth Family Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts 42°39′39″N 71°18′36″W / 42.660798°N 71.309928°W / 42.660798; -71.309928
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Blanche Butler ​ (m. 1870)​
Relations	Benjamin Franklin Butler (father-in-law)
Children	Butler, Edith, Sarah, Blanche, Adelbert Jr., Jessie
Alma mater	United States Military Academy
Profession	Military
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	U.S. Army (Union Army)
Years of service	1861–1870 1898–1899
Rank	Brigadier general Brevet major general
Unit	5th United States Artillery
Commands	20th Maine Volunteer Infantry 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XI Corps 2nd Division, X Corps 2nd Division, XXIV Corps Fourth Military District 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Fifth Army Corps 1st Division, Fifth Army Corps
Battles/wars	American Civil War Spanish–American War
Awards	Medal of Honor

Adelbert Ames (October 31, 1835 – April 13, 1933) was an American sailor, soldier, businessman and politician who served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. A Radical Republican, he was military governor, U.S. Senator, and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi. In 1898, he served as a United States Army general during the Spanish–American War. He was the last Republican to serve as the state governor of Mississippi until the election of Kirk Fordice, who took office in January 1992, 116 years after Ames vacated the office.

A staunch supporter of political equality for African Americans, Ames' tenure as governor of Mississippi was a longstanding point of controversy in the historiography around Reconstruction, with Dunning School and other "Lost Cause" historians casting him as a villain in American history. Conversely, his cause was championed by Black historians and, from the 1950s onward, other neo-abolitionist writers.

Ames was the penultimate surviving general officer of the Civil War, dying at the age of 97 in 1933.^[1] He was outlived only by Aaron Daggett, who died in 1938 at the age of 100. However, because Daggett was a brevet rank brigadier general of volunteers, Ames was the last surviving Civil War general who had held his rank in the regular U.S. or Confederate States army and was also the last surviving general of the conflict who had begun his career in the regular U.S. Army.