The Cyclopædia of American biography.

BUCKINGHAM

AMES

Haven, Connecticut. From him the line of resolution to restrict southern representation.
descent is traced through his son Samuel and He was a member of the Illinois National
his wife Sarah Baldwin; their son Samuel and Guard, receiving commission as Lieutenanthis wife Sarah; their son Thomas and his Colonel, Battery A, Danville, in 1898; and as
w i f e M a r y Colonel, in 1901. Mr. Buckingham was a trusB. Woodruff; tee of the Kankakee Insane Hospital, 1897 to
t h e i r s o n 1901, and in the latter year was made President
Thomas and of the Joliet Prison Board, in which office
his wife Sar- he served efficiently until 1905 when his
sh T r e a interests in commercial and industrial underah rea takings demanded a larger share of his attentgh e i r s o n ion. In 1906 he moved to Chicago forming the
Daniel a n d firm of Defrees, Buckingham and Eaton, which
his wife Phil- still continues (1923). He practises in the
ena Washing- appellate and supreme courts of the state, and
_"' ton Guernsey; in federal courts throughout the country. In
t h e i r s on 1914 he became special assistant to the AtJoseph Guern- torney-General of the State of Illinois. From
sey Bucking- 1910 to 1917 he was lecturer on Constitutional
ham, and his law at Chicago Kent College of Law. Of late
1 wife Amalia years office practice has in a large measure
^ Bridget Mc- supplanted litigation, and his advice is sought
bCoy, th y large corporations on matters pertaining to
ents of Tracy Wilson, and grandparents organization and re-organization. He is past
of George Tracy BcWilsokingham. On the president of the Indiana Society of Chicago;
maternal side he is a descendant of Gov- member of the Chicago Bar Association, Amerernor Robert Treat. Tracy Wilson Buck- ican Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Assoingham was a merchant residing at Fair- ciation, and the Vermilion County Bar Assomount, Illinois, and later at Potomac, I- ciation. He is a member of the Union League,
linois, where he died in 1917. George Tracy Mid-day, Hamilton and Exmoor Clubs, ChiBuckingham received his early educao c ation n go; Lotos Cluib, New York; Sangamo Club,
the public schools and at Central Normal Springfield, Illinois; Elks and Country Clubs,
School, Ladoga, Indiana. His higher educa- Danville, Illinois; and a 32nd degree Mason.
tion, however, was obtained under difficulties, He is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal
inasmuch as he was obliged to study at night, Church. He married, 3 November, 1893,
being employed during the day. His various Victoria, daughter of John Donlon, a coal
labors at this period of his life included work operator in the Danville district, of distinon a farm, clerkship in stores at Danville and guished Huguenot ancestry, and a descendant
Potomac, and a short time spent in the employ of Count Bartholomew Dupuy, who came to
of a firm operating a brick kiln. Subsequently Virginia in 1700. They have one son, Tracy
he read law in the office of W. J. Calhoun at Wilson Buckingham.
Danville and was admitted to the bar of Illi- AMES, Edwin Ayres, banker, b. at
nois in 1890, and in the same year was made Woodbridge, New Jersey, 28 January, 1866,
clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives. son of William Thomas (1840-1890) and
While in this important position he was ap- Sarah Anne (Ayres) Ames. His ancestry is
pointed by President Harrison a special agent English; Thomas Ames being the first of the
of the United States Treasury Department. line to settle in America. His father was an
His duties in connection with this post required importer and commission merchant of New
much traveling through this country and York City. He was a member of the Vohinalso in Mexico, Canada and Europe. In 1894 teer Fire Department, and possessed a hoard of
he returned to Danville and founded the firm anecdotes reminiscent of the tactics of rival
of Buckingham and Troup of which he was companies in their efforts to get "first water."
the senior partner. Their law practice proved He was a thirty-third degree Mason and had
lucrative and extensive, embracing the courts served as Deputy Grand Master of the State
in nearby counties of both Illinois and Indiana. of New Jersey. He was also the founder c.
In 1907 he was the choice of the Vermilion Americus Lodge, 83, F. and A. Masons, WoodCounty Bar Association for justice of the bridge, New Jersey. Edwin Ayres Ames resupreme court and his name was placed before ceived his early education in the high school
the convention, his opponent being Lawrence of Woodbridge. In March, 1881, he entered
Y. Sherman, now U. S. Senator. Ballot after the employ of his father, and applied himself
ballot was cast but each candidate lacked a industriously to acquiring a knowledge of busifew votes of a majority. After the one hun- ness principles and methods. Seeking a broaddred and forty-fifth ballot the deadlock was er field, he obtained a position as traveling
broken and Justice Frank Dunn received the salesman for a small concern, H. D. Osternomination. In 1908 Mr. Buckingham was moor and Son. Shortly after he was recalled
chairman of the state convention and in the from the road and given an executive position.
same year delegate to the National convention Here his ability, which amounted to genius,
in which he argued the cases of Foraker, Fair- soon made itself evident. The business inbanks, Hughes and Cannon (the contested creased under his management to an extent
delegates) at the all-night session of the cre- entirely unsuspected by those interested. Mr.
dentials committee. On the following day he Ames became, and is at the present (1923),
led the debate on the floor in favor of the the sole owner, the firm name having been

109