Business Executive, Union Civil War Veteran. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was the son of German immigrants. He was educated in Cincinnati's public schools and graduated from Woodward. After completing his education, he went to work for his uncle, August Alms, at a dry goods store in Cincinnati and then became a salesman at the dry goods firm, B. Simon and Company. In 1861, he answered President Lincoln's call for volunteers and enlisted on April 20, 1861 to serve in the Union Army for three months' service with the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Guthrie Grays. Alms was mustered into Company D as a Private. He returned to Cincinnati briefly when his enlistment expired but soon returned to the same regiment, re-enlisted for three years' service, and was made a Corporal. Early in 1862, he was transferred to the Signal Corps of the U.S. Regular Army and served in the Western Theater with the Army of the Cumberland. He was mustered in as a Sergeant and remained as such for the remainder of the war. Alms participated in several major engagements including the Battles of Bull Run, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Chattanooga. He was honorably discharged on June 17, 1864. Afterwards, he returned to Cincinnati and became employed at the L.C. Hopkins and Company. He later went into business with his brother, William H. Alms, and William Doepke as a partner at the Alms and Doepke Company which became the leading wholesale and retail dry goods establishment in Cincinnati. Alms always enjoyed fine music and later in his life, he held several positions with the College of Music of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Music Hall Association. He also established the grand Hotel Alms in Walnut Hills. He was one of the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad Company and a trustee of the Cincinnati College of Law as well. He died in Walnut Hills in 1898 when he was 59 years old. Alms was initially buried in Section 16 of Spring Grove Cemetery and was moved to Section 20 three months after his death.