The Biographical Dictionary of America/Adams, Henry

ADAMS, Henry, historian, was born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 16, 1838, third son of Charles Francis and Abigail Brooks Adams. In 1858 he received his diploma from Harvard college, and in 1861 was appointed private secretary to his father, who was then United States minister to England. In 1870 he returned to Massachusetts and became instructor in history at Harvard university. As an educator he was eminently successful and led his pupils into original paths of research that presented charming fields of investigation. He held the chair of history for seven years. In connection with his brother, Charles Francis, he published in 1871 "Chapters on Erie and other Essays," and made in collaboration with him biographical and historical researches, the results of which largely enriched the historical annals of Massachusetts. In 1876 he published "Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law." The next year he published "Documents relating to New England Federalism (1800-1815)." In 1879 appeared "Writings of Albert Gallatin," which he edited, and his "John Randolph" was published in Boston in 1882. He was editor of the North American Review in 1870. He went to Europe in 1887, residing in London for several years. In 1888 he returned to Washington where he wrote his popular "History of Jefferson's Administrations" (5 vols., 1889-91), and the "History of the United States" (9 vols.) He became a frequent contributor to current literature on historical topics through the periodicals, and some of these have been published in pamphlet form. Among these are: "Civil Service Reform" (1891), "The Tendency of History," in American Historical Association collections (1895), "Jefferson and his Inauguration, in "Old South Leaflets," and in collaboration with Francis Amasa Walker, "The Legal Tender Act." He received the degree LL.D., from Western Reserve university in 1892.