. . .He is the son of the late Louis and Elzina (Schneider) Ames, the former
a native of Belgium, while the latter was born in Germany. His father grew up in
his native country by the sea. . finally coming around Cape Horn before the mast
in a sailer, to San Francisco, in 1849. The gold discovery caused him, like
thousands of others, to leave the vessel and make his way to the mines. Coming
to the American River he followed mining for many years and then turned his
attention to ranching, becoming one of the pioneer fruit-growers of the
Newcastle district, in Placer County. . . he died at the age of 69. They had
four children all living: Edward, a horticulturist of Newcastle; Louis, the
subject of our review; Mrs. Tillie Jones, of Lodi, and Mrs. Lottie Hatch of
Oroville.
Born in Newcastle on June 9, 1869, Louis .. .made himself generally useful, learning the care of the trees and cultivation of the orchards, . . .he also worked in packing houses for Fred J. Mason at various places, among them Newcastle, Placerville, and Loomis. Later he was in charge of the Newcastle shipping-house for the Producers’ Fruit Company. During this time, also, he was improving his ninety-acre fruit ranch. . .since 1916 he has given all his time to the study and improvement of fruit culture on that ranch. For years he has experimented with soils, irrigation, fertilizers and different varieties of fruit trees. . .He was the first man in this district to use nitrate of soda in his orchards, which he did with excellent results. He now produces in his orchards the highest grade of peaches, pears, plums and grapes.
Mr. Ames was married in Petaluma, Ca, in 1907 to Miss Ada Stone, who was
born in Napa and whose father, William Searls Stone was a pioneer of California.
. . they had two children We. L. And Shirley Barbara. Mr. Ames is a prominent
factor in the up building of the town. He is also a director of the Placer
County Chamber of Commerce, and of the Placer County Water-Users’ Association;
and for many years was president of the Newcastle Sanitary Board. . . He is an
influential Republican serving as a member and treasurer of the Republican
Central Committee.