author
Azel Ames
1845–1908
Remembered for blending medicine, public health, and historical research, he wrote with the curiosity of a scholar and the practical eye of a physician. His best-known work on the Mayflower helped preserve early American history for later generations.
7 Audiobooks
About the author
Born in Massachusetts in 1845, Azel Ames Jr. was an American physician, public health specialist, genealogist, and author. He studied at Harvard Medical School and began his career in medicine before turning much of his attention to sanitation and public health, work that gave him a reputation beyond the strictly literary world.
Alongside his medical and civic work, he wrote on history and family lineage. He is especially associated with The May-Flower and Her Log, a carefully researched study of the famous ship and its voyage, and he also produced genealogical writing that reflected his deep interest in early New England families and records.
Ames died in 1908. Though not a household name today, he stands out as one of those energetic nineteenth-century figures whose writing grew directly from a lifelong habit of investigation, documentation, and public service.