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Ames, Edward R.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
WORLD METHODISM
and Chicago District, 1906-40); HucH C. TuCKER (Brazil,
1887-1934 ); F. G. PENZOTTI (Latin America, 1883-1906) ;
J. P. Wragg (Atlan ta and New York, 1901-29 ). There
have been three .Methodist presidents out of the twenty:
William Henry Allen (1872-80); E noch L . F ancher
(1885-1900); and D aniel Burke (1944-62) . At present
( 1966) there are eleven Methodists 'on the Board of
~f anagers. Sixty-two denominations were represented by
delegates at the Society's 1966 Advisory Council.
H. 0 . Dwight, History of the American Bible Society. New
York: Macmillan, 1916.
American Bible Society Historical Essays, 1966 (unpublished).
Emc M. NonTH
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, Washington, D .C., was chartered by Congress, Feb. 24, 1893. The initiative for the
founding was taken by Bishop JOHN FLETCHER H uRsT
of the M . E. CHURCH, who became its first chan cellor and
directed the purchasing of a seventy-five acre campus in
northwest Washington . His plans, and those of his immedia te successors, included only graduate and professional
studies. E xperience proved, however, that the university
needed an undergraduate school to support the graduate
program, and in 1925 the College of Liberal Arts, now
the College of Arts an d Sciences, was established.
While the university was }.fethodist in origin, there
was, during the first half-century of its life, no formulated
plan for the church to participate in fin an cial support. In
1952, the General Conference made it a part of the World
Service program-general benevolences--<>£ the church.
In 1956, as a part of the church's special four-year emphasis on higher education, $1,000,000 was set aside from
general benevolences for a School of International Service. The school was opened in 1958 b y President Dwight
Eisenhower.
The relocation of WESLEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY on
the campus of the university, and the developmen t of the
Lucy Webb H ayes Collegiate School of Nursing, closely
associated with Sibley H ospital, greatly augmented The
American University's service. The projected concentration of Methodist institutions in the area around the university will create one of the nation's larges t Protestant
cultural centers.
The university consists of eight major schools: Arts and
Sciences, Business Administration, Government and Public
Administration, International Service, Gradua te, Law,
N ursing, and Continuing Education. Wesley Theological
Seminary is affiliated academically with the university.
The governing board of forty-eight active trustees, nine
honorary, are elected by the board and con firmed by the
BoARD OF EoucATI0:-.1 of The United Methodist Church.
JoHN 0. Cnoss
AMES, EDWARD RAYMOND ( 1806-1879 ), American
bishop, was born on May 20, 1806, at Amesville, Ohio, a
town named for his father. H e attended Ohio University,
supporting himself by teaching. While there he opened a
school at Lebanon which in later years became McKE!'.'DREE COLLEGE.
He was licensed to preach by PETER CARTIV1UCHT and
joined the ILLINOIS CoNFERENCE in 1830. When the
11'.-oiANA CoKFERENCE was formed, Edward Ames became a member and continued serving circuits and stations in Indiana except for two years spent in ST. Loms.
EowAno
n. A~t Es
He became a PRESIDI!\'C ELDER, and in 1840 was elected
missionary secretary, to serve in the \Vest and among the
Indians. The coWlc:il of the Choctaws elected him a
chaplain.
Back in Indiana in 1844, he ser\'ed churches and districts until 1852. H e was named to succeed Bishop ~Lu
THEW SIMPsox as president of 1!\'m ... x . . ASBL'RY Uxn·EnSITY but declined. H e was a de legate to the General Conferences of the ~1. E. CnuRCH in 18-44, 1848, and 1852,
when he was e lected bishop.
During the Ci\'il \Var, Bishop Ames was an opponent
of slavery. He was appointed a chaplain in the Union
ar:my. Secre tary of War Stanton issued an order permitting
hun to take O\'er the churches of the ~!. E. CnuRcn
SOUTH, and install northem pastors in the pulpits. Thi~
was done in TE I\XESSEE, LouiSIAXA and oth er states. ~fc
Kendree Church, NASHVILLE, and Church Street Church,
KNOXVILLE, were seized and their p astors displaced. This
seems to have been done without the knowledge of President Abraham LincoL1, and when Andrew Johnson b ecame President, he ordered these churches returned to
Southern Methodists, but th ere was a lengthy delay in
complying with the order.
After the war Bishop Ames was acti\'e in extending
the work of Northern I\Iethodism throughout the South .
Bec.a~se of his political activity he was offered important
POSitions in government, but he declined .
~e died at BALTI:t.lORE on April 25, 1879, and was
buned in Greenmount Cemetery there.
Dicti.onary of American Biography.
Hernck and Sweet, North Indiana Conference. 1917.
F. D. Leete, Methodist Bislwps. 1948.
M. Simpson, Cyclopaedia. 1878.
W. W. Sweet, ME Church and Civil War. 1912.
ELI\tEn T. CLAnK
THE COMMISSION ON ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
DETROITANNUALCONFERENCE
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Archives, Adrian College Library
Adrian, Michigan 49221
Telephone: 517/265-5161
First Log Church
on the River Rouge
Clinton, oldest UMC
edifice in Conference
1837
President
Rev. Bruce Brown
13199 Colvin
Riverview, Mi. 48192
Archivist
Rev. Ronald Brunger
Adrian College Library
Adrian, Mi. 49221
Vice-President
Rev. William Cooper
5005 Chicago Rd.
Warren, Mi. 48092
Secretary
James Dodd
Adrian College Library
Adrian, Mi. 49221
BISHOP Em-TARn RAYl·' OND AMES(l806-1879)
Edwa,~ d R. ArnE' s ,.•as born at Amexville, in Athens County, Ohio,
May 20, 1806. The to,·m l-ras named for his father. J};i~ ,crrandfather was
f!! Chaplain in \iashingtnntl Army, and died at Valley ~ orge. He 'Iotas a
kinsman of Fisher Ames, an orator and statesman.
Nrhrard was converted and joined the Metho clist Episcopal Church at
th ~ time of the ~vival of 1827 amone the stu·ents o~ Ohio St~te University. He was licensed to preacy by the Tamous Peter Cartwright in 1 ~30,
and that year becam~ a member of the Illinois Con~erence. He was or~ined
by bishops Joshua. Soule and Rober; R. Roberts.
Tfhen the Indiana Conferenc was set off~ from the Illinois Confe~ence
in 1832, he became a charter member. Se served as R. nas tor ~no missionary
secr et ary, doing much work among the Indians. He H-"'S t ;,e first Chaplain
elected by the Choctaw National CountH. He "ras a Presiding Elder, but
decline d to become a College President. He wa.s elected Bishop in 1852
an~ served some 27 years.
From 1840 t6 1844 he had served as '·!issionary Secretary; he travelled
extensively, visiting the Indi an missions along t he n orthern lakes and
on the western frontier, an d establishin~ schools among tribes wes t of
Arkansas. Upon his election as bishon he ma de a trip to the Pacific
coast in 1852-53, a laborious journey in that day .
Bishop Ames presided many time s over the Annual Confere nces in
Michigan. He pre sided over the 1855 Confere n ce in Flint, the 1858
Michigan Annual Confe r ence in Kalama~ oo; the 1861 Confe~en ce in Ba~tle
Creek, the 1865 Co nferpnce in Albion, the 1868 Confeeence in Three Rivers
For th8 Detroit Confere nce, he pre ~ ided over the s essions of 1861 in Detroit, 1866 in Hudson, 1868 in Ann Arbor, 1872 in E ~ st Sa,d na•·r, =1 nd 1876
in Detroit.
Aft8r a lone; s i ckness fr nrr: in cur2ble mCJ.l ady , Ames <iier <? t h ~ s home
in Baltimore, April 25 , 1879, ~nd t,ras buried in Greenmount, Balt imore.
See
Fre ~erick Deland Leete~ Methodist Bishons(Na shvilles Parthenon Press,l94
Matthew Simpsontayclopedia(Philadel phia: Rverts & SteHRrt, 1878)
Nolan B. Harmons The 'Sjncyclopedia of World Method.ism, 1972
Conf erence Minut es.
BISHOP EDWARD RAYMOND AMES
•e
Detr oit , Michigan, September 25, 1861. Hudson, Michigan,September 5 1 1866 •
Ann Arbor , Michigan,August 26,1868. East Saginaw, Michigan,September 4,1872 •
..........
Detroit,Michigan, August 30 1 1876.
BishoE Edward R. Ames was born May 30 , 1806, at Amesville, Ohio.
At the State College of Ohio there was a re vival where he went first
to the altar and was converted.
him into the mi ni stry .
I ntending to enter law, this thrust
He entered the Illinois Conference in 1830,
through the direction of Bishop Roberts, by whom also he was made a
missionary to the Indians,along the West side of the Mississippi
from the Great Lakes to Texas.
At the General Confer ence of 1840,
to which he was a delegate, he was made a Missionary Secretary for
frontier.
In 1852, be ing himself a Presiding Elder of the Indiana
Conference, he was e l ected General Superintendent at the Boston
General Conference .
Resident at Baltimore, Maryland, he died there,
April 25, 1879.
He was a forceful administrator, an interesting preacher of the
conversational type, a man of keen wit and almost a Dictator in
Methodism.
But that tremendous ruling gift wa s based on his l oyalty
to Methodism, both in it s institutional methods and its spiritual
purpose •
•
Ames, Edward R.