Charles Francis Adams, Jr
Charles Francis Adams, Jr. was an American writer, historian, and military officer born in Boston in 1835 into a prominent political family, being the grandson of President John Quincy Adams. He initially struggled with his education but developed a passion for historical writing influenced by English historian Thomas Macaulay. After attending Harvard and briefly studying law, he became deeply involved in politics, joining the Republican Party and the antislavery movement. During the Civil War, he served as an officer in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, eventually rising to the rank of Brigadier General and commanding the Fifth Cavalry Regiment.
Post-war, Adams shifted his focus to civic activism and the railroad industry, where he held significant positions, including president of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was also a founding member of the Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissions. In the latter part of his life, he rediscovered his passion for historical research, writing numerous works that largely focused on local and regional history. Adams passed away in 1915, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with both military service and historical scholarship.
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Subject Terms
Charles Francis Adams, Jr.
Lawyer
- Born: May 27, 1835
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
- Died: March 20, 1915
- Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Biography
Charles Francis, Jr., was born to Charles Francis Adams in 1835 on Hancock Avenue in Boston. Charles Sr. was a son of President John Quincy Adams and a diplomat, and maintained an emotional distance from his boys. These included the future politician John Quincy and the famous intellectual Henry Brooks. Charles Jr. resided at home, living the life of a young Boston Brahmin, until beginning college in 1853. He attended Boston Latin School (1848-1851), which he hated, but discovered the writings of the English historian Thomas Macaulay, which sparked his interest in writing history. Adams worked as a tutor and entered Harvard a year late, in 1853. Though a mediocre student, he began writing for the Magazine and developing his voice as a writer. He also developed a political personality, joining the Republican Party and antislavery movement. After leaving Harvard in 1856 he returned home to live and apprenticed with the law firm of Dana and Parker.
Though admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1858, he had little interest in law, and followed his father to Washington, D.C. in autumn 1859 and February/March of 1861. He acquired an intense interest in politics. His writing developed only slowly, but James Russell Lowell encouraged him to write an article for The Atlantic Monthly, and his “Reign of King Cotton” appeared in April, 1861. At the same time he accompanied Massachusetts Governor William Seward on a campaign trip by railroad train through the Midwest, which opened his eyes to America’s vast frontier. A longtime member of the Boston Militia, he joined the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia when war broke out, and was quickly commissioned an officer. He moved to the First Massachusetts Cavalry later in the year, and found that military life was quite agreeable. He saw action at Antietam and Gettysburg, and took medical leave, during which he visited England. Returning in April, 1864, he was commissioned Brigadier General and assumed command of the African American Fifth Cavalry Regiment, which was given the honor of burning Richmond. He married Mary Ogden in November, 1865, and the couple honeymooned for eleven months in Europe, where Adams recuperated from protracted illnesses. The couple would have five children.
On his return, he wrote an article for the North American Review titled “Railroads.” He helped found the Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissions, serving as a member for a decade after 1869. He moved his family to Quincy in 1868 and became an active civic reformer, spurred by the writings of Auguste Comte and John Stewart Mill, whom he had read while in England. In 1869, Adams became the successful president of the Kansas City Stockyards Co., and joined the Board of Government Directors of Union Pacific Railroad in 1878, rising to president of the company in 1884, serving through 1890. In 1874, he presented a Fourth of July public address at Weymouth, and rediscovered his old fascination with historical research and writing. The following year, he was elected to the prestigious Massachusetts Historical Society.
His major historical writings followed his retirement from Union Pacific in 1890. After the panic of 1893, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, wintering in Washington, D.C., where he died in 1915. Apart from his biographies and work on railroads, Adams’s amateur historical writings were largely of local and regional interest.