Saugus inventor had his ups and downs

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Saugus inventor had his ups and downs

SAUGUS — In 1859, Nathan Ames secured a patent for his invention, the revolving stairs — the progenitor of the escalator. Born in 1826 in Roxbury, N.H., Ames relocated to Saugus Center and attended college at Harvard. While at Harvard, Ames published a book using the pseudonym Señor Alguno. The book, “Childe Harvard: A Romance of Cambridge,” was a parody of Lord Byron’s “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.” Later on, Ames published another book, this ti…