You can't trust an Ames
My aunt came back from vacation this week with a bag of rocks.
It's the epitome of inexpensive, recyclable gifts.
The pink granite rocks came from the ground around a giant pyramid in the Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming. OK, really, it's near Cheyenne, but it was hard to find, my aunt said.
The pyramid was built to honor Oliver and Oakes Ames, who worked to finance the railroad. In 1873, Oakes, a congressman, was accused of corruption and bribery.
The Union Pacific Railroad built the monument in 1882 for the whopping cost of $65,000. I wonder what I would have to do to get someone to build a $65,000 pyramid to honor me?
According to our family research, Oliver and Oakes were the grandchildren of John Ames, who was the first of my relatives born in America. He was born in 1769.
One of John's eight children, Thomas, was the father of Oliver and Oakes. His brother, William, is the man my family decended from.
And now I have a rock on my desk. It goes nicely with the brass quail lighter and the Weiner Whistle.
Jun 27, 2008 at 3:16 p.m.
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Hi. Ann Marie here.
garyprimer, thanks so much for crunching those numbers. I thought about it, but I'm a word person, not a number person.
Maybe the railroad scandal was just a math error....
Jun 27, 2008 at 8:12 a.m.
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When my father was a young man, he had recently gotten hired by the railroad when he mistakenly threw the wrong switch and derailed a freight train. No injuries. He claimed they didn't explain his task correctly. My dad's cousins were strong in the union, so they apparently helped him keep his job. At least, that's the story he told. That's all I can think of for family skeletons. Oh, and grandpa probably practiced veterinary medicine without a license, to the delight of many a Finnish farmer who needed a horse gelded or calf birthed. My grandfather was also prejudiced. He had no use for the Swedes who, he claimed, controlled the state government in St. Paul. --Gazette reporter Frank Schultz
Jun 27, 2008 at 7:51 a.m.
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hey I remember when nichol was spelled nickel I wonder when that changed???
Just ribbing you gazettefan!
I loved the link to the pyramid!
Jun 26, 2008 at 9:19 p.m.
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I remember when a candy bar was a nichol!
Jun 26, 2008 at 12:50 p.m.
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It took less than a minute to figure that out.
Jun 26, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.
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wow someone has too much time on their hands to figure out We know what lies in the Ames family closet what about the other reporters closets?
Jun 26, 2008 at 9:41 a.m.
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$65,000 was a lot of money in 1882. Current data is only available till 2007. In 2007, $65,000 from 1882 is worth:
$1,359,960 using the Consumer Price Index
$1,281,800 using the GDP deflator
using the value of consumer bundle *
$8,640,240 using the unskilled wage *
$12,899,990 using the nominal GDP per capita
$73,662,530 using the relative share of GDP
* Data for consumer bundle only starts in 1900.
* The 2007 data for unskilled wage and consumer bundle are estimated and will be adjusted when official data become available.
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