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  Adams, Sr., Charles Francis
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameCharles Francis Adams, Sr.
Address
Quincy, Massachusetts , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born August 18, 1807
DiedNovember 21, 1886 (79 years)
ContributorThomas Walker
Last ModifedRBH
Sep 09, 2017 04:01am
Tags
InfoCHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, the third son of John Quincy and Louisa Catherine (Johnson) Adams, was born 18 August 1807, in Boston. His early childhood was spent, for the most part, abroad six years in St. Petersburg (1809-1815) and two in England (1815-1817) where his father had diplomatic appointments. He graduated from Harvard in 1825 and spent two years in Washington during his father's presidency. Following his engagement in 1827 to Abigail Brown Brooks of Medford, Massachusetts, Adams returned to Boston to read law in Daniel Webster's office. He and Abigail were married 3 September 1829.

Adams began to take an active role in politics in the 1830s by contributing pieces on local and national affairs to Boston newspapers and the North American Review. His next step was election to the Massachusetts legislature, serving three years in the House (1841-1843) and two in the Senate (1844-1845) and emerging as a recognized antislavery leader in the state and among the Conscience Whigs. In 1846 he became the editor and a proprietor of the Boston Daily Whig, the unofficial voice of the Conscience Whigs. Although he was the vice-presidential candidate of the newly formed Free Soil Party in 1848, a decade passed before he held elected office again.

He served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1858 until 1861 when, on the eve of the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed him minister to the Court of St. James's. He arrived in London on the very day Great Britain recognized the Confederacy as a belligerent. In 1863 Adams convinced the British government to prevent Confederate ironclad ships, built in Liverpool, from leaving port, thereby maintaining British neutrality. He resigned his post in 1868.

In 1871 and 1872, Adams was one of five arbitrators appointed to settle outstanding claims of the United States against Great Britain. The "Alabama claims" concerned damages to American shipping by Confederate raiders, such as the Alabama, built in Britain. Adams successfully argued the American cause for direct damages and the United States was awarded $15,500,000.

Charles Francis Adams was an accomplished editor and published numerous volumes based on the family papers. These include Letters of Mrs. Adams (1840), Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author (1850-1856), and Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848 (1874-1877).

Charles Francis Adams died in Boston on 21 November 1886.



1848 Free Soil Vice Presidential nominee.

United States Representative, 1859-1861.

Minister to Great Britain, 1861-1868.

Contender, Liberal Republican Presidential nomination, 1872.

Vote totals for elections in which was nominated for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans (1900-1965): 1900-4, 1905-6, 1910-20, 1915-7, 1920-5.


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BOOKS
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EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 9.00000 Average

FAMILY
Son John Quincy Adams II 1833-1894
Grandson Charles Francis "Deacon" Adams III 1866-1954
Son Charles Francis Adams, Jr. 1835-1915
Grandson John Adams 1875-1964
Son Henry Brooks Adams 1838-1918
Father John Quincy Adams 1767-1848
Grandfather John Adams 1735-1826
Aunt Abigail "Nabby" Adams Smith 1765-1813
Aunt Susanna Adams 1768-1770
Uncle Charles Adams 1770-1800
Uncle Thomas Boylston Adams 1772-1832
Grandmother Abigail Quincy Smith Adams 1744-1818
Brother George Washington Adams 1801-1829
Brother John Adams, II 1803-1834
Sister Louisa Catherine Adams 1811-1812
Mother Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams 1775-1852

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  11/07/1876 MA Governor Lost 41.59% (-11.99%)
  05/23/1872 US President - Anti-Masonic Convention Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  05/03/1872 US President - LR Convention Lost 25.67% (-12.52%)
  01/15/1863 MA US Senate Lost 1.09% (-73.37%)
  05/20/1861 US Ambassador to England Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/06/1860 MA District 3 Won 58.57% (+17.14%)
  11/02/1858 MA District 3 Won 54.98% (+22.28%)
  12/13/1852 MA District 3 - 2nd Trial Lost 42.40% (-6.24%)
  11/08/1852 MA District 3 - 1st Trial Lost 37.14% (-6.04%)
  11/07/1848 US Vice President Lost 0.00% (-56.21%)
  08/10/1848 US President - FS Convention #2 Lost 2.78% (-49.46%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - Dec 06, 1876 D Samuel J. Tilden
US President - R Convention - May 18, 1860 R William H. Seward