JOHN AMES: NAMES

I’m nearly done with my exploration of the John Ames pension
request file. But I thought it might be interesting to flesh out
some of the different names that appear on it.

So, for this post let’s look at some of the witnesses and
officials:

William Allen Jr. to whom John Ames’ Certificate of Pension was
sent was a surveyor, clerk and writer. Among his works are
histories of the towns of Industry and Norridgewock, Maine, and
a journal of his and his family’s experiences as earlier settlers in
the area.


Nathan Weston Jr, Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court before
whom John appeared to make his declaration of service went on
to serve as Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court for seven
years. (1834-1841). Among his descendants was his grandson,
Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court Melville Weston Fuller.

Cornelius Holland the member of Congress cited as a character
witness for John was a practicing physician from Canton, Maine
who had been a Maine State Representaive and State Senator.
He was a member of the Democratic Party and after being
appointed to serve out the term of a congressman, he won
re-election for the seat and served in Congress from 1830-
1833.


Charles Fuller, the other character witness from Canton, might
have been a relative of Isaac Fuller, husband of John Ames’
daughter Sally.



William Spaulding, John Ames’ childhood schoolmate, may be
the same William Spaulding who held the position of Postmaster
for Norridgewock in 1816. He also quite possibly was a cousin of
John’s through a common descent from William Green and Mary
Crispe.