Doubt if this helps, but I thought you might find it interesting. I have a dairy of a William Darwin Ames who was a Methodist preacher in Sun Prairie from Dec 1856 to Sept 1857. In that diary he talks of visiting a Frank Ames and family of Liberty Prairie, which is an area in eastern Cottage Grove Township. The entry in the diary goes "I was kindly received although Mr. Ames is not a professed Christian. His wife is a Methodist and a real good lady. This is the first family I have become acquainted with of my own name and it is my prayer that our acquaintance may prove a mutal blessing"

I guess this just lets you know that there were several families with the Ames surname in the area at the time.
Sandy Kintner