This firm had an office in New York and factory in Worcester, MA. They were related to Ames Shovel Co., also known as Ames Tool Co., which is the oldest existing company in the U.S.A.: since 1774. Ames Plow Co. was the retail arm, but patents were assigned to it, and it is unclear whether the Ames woodworking machines were made by Ames Tool Co., Ames Plow Co., or by another company entirely.

Information Sources

• 1880 Illustrated Business Guide of the City of Worcester, Massachusetts has a good company history, providing names and dates of this firm's predecessors (Ruggles, Nourse & Mason 1835-1856; Nourse, Mason & Co. 1856-1860; Oliver Ames & Sons 1860-1900s; Ames Plow Co. incorporated "several years" after 1860).
• The Massachusetts corporate registry database lists this company's first registration as 1864-02-24.
• 1870 ad for a hay-maker in an 1870 issue of "Tilton's Journal of Horticulture."
• Listed in two separate 1870 business directories for New York State (55 Beekman, New York City).
• 1891 catalog showing a "Hildreth's patent wood splitter" and a "portable circular saw machine".
• 1893 catalog of Ames Plow Co. can be viewed via archive.org. This catalog says that Joel Nourse was in business in Shrewsbury, Mass., by 1835, and then relocated to Worcester in 1837 when the firm of Ruggles, Nourse & Mason was created. In 1847 it became Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co. In 1856 it became Nourse, Mason & Co. In 1857 the business was acquired by Oliver Ames & Sons, well-known shovel manufacturers. The business was incorporated as Oliver Ames & Co. in 1864.
• 1893 Digest of Trade Marks for Machines, Metals, Jewelry, and the Hardware and Allied Trades lists trademark registered before 1893 to Ames Plow Co.