The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
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.
