Vice-President of a Bank Robbed by Jesse James

This is the latest addition to my photograph collection, and I am very pleased with it! Cabinet card is identified on the back as “Jesse Ames, 84 years old, 4th Feb. 1892.” Jesse Ames was born February 4, 1808, in Vinal Haven, Maine. At the age of 15 he began a career as crewman on a sailing vessel, and by the time he was 23 he had been made captain of his own ship. He continued to work at sea until 1861, when he retired and moved to Northfield, Minnesota. Ames opened a very successful flour mill in Northfield, and in 1868 he was elected to the state legislature. He was also a member of the Republican National Convention at Chicago, which nominated Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1868. In addition to his milling business, Ames was vice-president and one of the directors of the First National Bank of Northfield. It was this bank that was robbed by the James/Younger gang on September 7, 1876. Jesse Ames was in town on the day of the robbery, and may have witnessed it firsthand. His son was Adelbert Ames, who was a Civil War general and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his bravery at the battle of First Bull Run. Adelbert also served as governor of Mississippi and U.S. Senator during reconstruction, and he did witness the James/Younger robbery of the Northfield bank.