A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists/Adams, Charles Francis
Adams, Charles Francis, American historian, great-grandson of President J. Adams. B. May 27, 1835. Ed. Harvard University. He was admitted to the American bar in 1858, but the Civil War drew him into the army. In 1865 he became brigadier-general and retired from the service. From 1884 to 1890 he was President of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and for two years (1893-95) Chairman of the Massachusetts Park Commission. After 1894 Mr. Adams devoted himself particularly to American history. He was President of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1895, and of the American Historical Association in 1901. In 1913 he lectured on American history at Oxford University. In a warm tribute to Sir Leslie Stephen, with whose ideal of character and culture he was in the closest sympathy, he says that, after reading An Agnostic's Apology in 1892, he chose Stephen as his "philosopher and guide" (Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc., series 2, vol. xviii, pp. 254-56). His lucid and independent writings and high character gave him an eminent position in his State. D. Mar. 20, 1915.