5687. Charles Francis
Adams was born on 18 Aug 1807 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
He died on 21 Nov 1886 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He was taken
to St. Petersburg, Paris and London beginnin g when he was two years old. He
acquired his earliest educ ation and acquaintance with several languages. In
1817 h e entered the Boston Latin School and in 1821 graduated an d went on to
Harvard College where he graduated A.B. in 182 5. After legal study in Washington
and in the office of Da niel Webster in Boston, he was admitted to the bar in
182 8 and took an office in Boston. He soon relinquished the p ractice of his
profession. From 1831 to 1844 he was a Repr esentative and in 1845 and 1846
a Senator in the Massachuse tts Legislature as a member of the Whig party. In
1848 h e joined the Free-soil party which nominated Martin Van Bur en for President
and Adams for V-P. In 1854 that party mer ged into the new Republican party.
He was elected to Congr ess in 1858 and 1860. In 1861, Lincoln appointed him
Minis ter to England. His career in England from 1861 to 1868 i s justly considered
the greatest and most important triump h in the history of American diplomacy.
He pursued an unfl inching course to preserve English neutrality, exhibiting
t he dogged, courageous determination inherited from his ance stors, disdaining
the ordinary crafty and intriguing arts o f diplomacy, and with haughty and often
defiant firmness ov ercoming the most serious difficulties. He had considerabl
e support both in 1872 and 1876 for nomination for the pres idency. Among his
publications were "The life and works o f John Adams" in 10 volumes
and "The diary of John Quincy A dams" in 12 volumes. From 1869 to
1881 he served as presid ent of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College.
Adams, Charles Francis (1807-86), American diplomat and edi tor, grandson of
John Adams and son of John Quincy Adams, b orn in Boston, and educated at Harvard
University. He was a dmitted to the bar in 1829. Adams served for five years
i n the Massachusetts legislature as a member of the Whig par ty. In 1858 and
again in 1860, he was elected to the U.S. H ouse of Representatives from Massachusetts
as a member of t he Republican party. In 1861 he was appointed minister to G
reat Britain by Abraham Lincoln. His skillful handling of t his position during
the American Civil War (1861-65), whe n the British government rendered aid to
the Confederacy, i s an outstanding chapter in the history of American diploma
cy. In the so-called Trent affair, the first major crisis i n Anglo-American
relations during the war, his calm and tac t were instrumental in averting hostilities
between the tw o nations. Although he failed to prevent the sailing of th e Alabama,
a raider built in Great Britain for the Confeder acy, his efforts with the British
government later resulte d in the detention of other Confederate vessels. He
resigne d as minister to Great Britain in 1868. In 1871 he becam e a member of
the Alabama claims tribunal. He edited the Li fe and Works of John Adams (10
vol., 1850-56), the Memoir s of John Quincy Adams (12 vol., 1874-77), and the
Familia r Letters of John Adams and His Wife, Abigail (2 vol., 1876 ).
MARRIAGE: Date also given as 23 Sep 1829.
He was married to Abigail Brown Brooks
(daughter of ) on 5 Sep 1829 in Medford, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.
Abigail Brown Brooks was born on 25 Apr 1808 in Medford, Middlesex
Co., Massachusetts. She died on 6 Jun 1889 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Her father amassed a large fortune in Boston as an insuranc e broker and capitalist
and at his death in 1849 was the we althiest man in New England. Among her noted
ancestors wer e Sir Richard Saltonstall, Knt. (1586-1661), Rev. John Cott on
(1584-1652), and Hon. Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796). Charles Francis Adams and
Abigail Brown Brooks had the following children:
+7079 i.
Louisa Catherine Adams.
+7080 ii.
John Quincy Adams.
+7081 iii.
Charles Francis Adams.
7082 iv.
Henry Adams was born on 16 Feb 1838 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
He died.
7083 v.
Arthur Adams was born on 23 Jul 1841 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
He died on 9 Feb 1846 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
+7084 vi.
Mary Adams.
+7085 vii.
Brooks Adams.
+7086 viii.
Henry Brooks Adams.
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