Rev. John Fremont Ames

Rev. John Fremont Ames, 1858-1892
Baptist Minister

Buried in Masons Cemetery, Block 9, Lot 3, Grave 5

(Photo Courtesy of Ames’ Descendants)

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​John Fremont Ames was born 13 May 1858 in De Ruyter, New York, to Fordyce Ames and Electa Elmira Ray. He lost his mother at age 20, a tragedy which may have inspired him to enter the ministry.

After graduating from a Madison, New York, university in 1886, he married Sophie Wall on June 22nd. Sophie’s sister Zelda was married in the same service to a Fred Hendee. The newlyweds honeymooned at Niagara Falls, after which John accepted a call to work as an assistant pastor in Genoa, New York. The Ameses’ first child, Francis, was born in April 1887.

Ames was ordained to the ministry on December 9, 1887. He then decided to study theology at Rochester Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in June 1890. Having indicated that he wanted to serve a congregation that really needed him, even though it couldn’t afford to pay him a salary commensurate with his education, he accepted a call to a church in Madison, South Dakota. 

While in Madison, the Ameses had a daughter, Mary Lorena, born in 1891. Unfortunately, Sophie then developed an intractable cough and was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

In hopes of improving Sophie’s health, the family moved in 1892 to Milton, Tennessee, where they rented a house from relatives. However, Tennessee did not suit them. The rainy weather aggravated Sophie’s cough, and John disliked the racial segregation which forbade him to preach to whites and blacks at the same gathering. Ames was then offered the pastorate of a Baptist Church in Phoenix. It seemed an attractive offer as the dry climate of Arizona was said to be salubrious for invalids. Accordingly, the Ameses moved to Arizona and took up residence on the ranch of a parishioner who lived east of the city.

On July  31, 1892, Reverend Ames was in a buggy on his way to church in downtown Phoenix when he overtook a steam threshing engine on the street. When the driver blew his whistle, the unexpected noise so frightened the reverend’s horse that it took off in a mad run. As the buggy careened around the corner of Washington and Montezuma, Dr. Ames either tried to jump or was thrown from the buggy. He fell against an electric light pole with such force that he suffered head trauma and his left leg was broken below the hip. He was carried into Frakes’ Livery, where Drs. Hughes and Dameron stabilized him. However they were not optimistic about his chances for recovery.

Since Ames could not be moved, he was cared for at Mr. Elwell’s house. He regained consciousness enough to take water and medicine, but was unable to recall what had happened or to recognize family members. Though attended by three physicians, he died August 13th.

Ames’s wife Sophie, already an invalid, was prostrated by his death. She could not bear light or sound; throughout  the hot summer evenings, she sat on the porch with a wet cloth over her face. In October 1892 she declared that she was ready to join her husband. She lingered until November before passing away. The Ameses were buried in the Masons Cemetery.

© 2018 by Donna Carr. Last revised 28 April 2018.

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