Oliver Ames (February 4, 1831 – October 22, 1895) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and Republican politician who served as the 35th governor of Massachusetts from 1887 to 1890.

[4] After leaving Brown, Ames entered the family business, learning all aspects of its manufacturing processes and worked as a traveling salesman.

[8] Ames inherited his father's fortune, nationwide network of business interests, and $6–8 million in debt related to the scandal.

[10] Crédit Mobilier remained mired in legal action related to the scandal, and its shares were a major component of Oakes Ames's estate.

Gould and Union Pacific countersued and conducted a hostile takeover of Crédit Mobilier, ousting Ames from the company's board and discontinuing its lawsuit.

[14] Ames made a large profit on the sale, which Gould purchased in order to assemble the pieces of a full transcontinental rail network under the Union Pacific umbrella.

Though he won his race, Republican Robert R. Bishop lost the gubernatorial election to Democrat Benjamin Butler in a bitterly divisive contest.

Ames countered criticisms by pointing out that he had hired a substitute to serve in his place and had financially supported the Union war effort.

[citation needed] In 1887 he signed a bill exempting military veterans from recently enacted civil service regulations, earning him the ire of the state's progressives.

[citation needed] During his second term, he donated $1,000 to the College of the Holy Cross, which upset anti-Catholics in the state and cost him votes in his third election against William E.

[citation needed] Ames supported the work of the Massachusetts Temperance Society but was opposed to the legislated prohibition of alcohol.

[citation needed] In 1889, the legislature passed a state constitutional amendment enacting prohibition, but it was voted down in the required popular referendum that followed.

[24] Their youngest son, Oakes Ames, was a well-known American botanist and orchid expert who owned palatial properties in Boston, Martha's Vineyard, and North Easton.

He owned Booth's Theatre in New York City[26] and raised funds to send members of the Boston Athletic Association to the 1896 Summer Olympics.