Name John Adams Role American Politician | Siblings Henry Adams | |
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Born September 22, 1833 ( 1833-09-22 ) Boston, Massachusetts Died August 14, 1894, Quincy, Massachusetts, United States Spouse Frances Cadwalader Crowninshield (m. 1861) Parents Charles Francis Adams, Sr. Similar People John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams - Sr, Charles Francis Adams III, Charles Francis Adams - Jr, Henry Adams | ||
Children Charles Francis Adams III | ||
John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician.
Contents
Early life
Adams was the son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–1886) and Abigail Brown Brooks (1808–1889). His siblings were Louisa Catherine Adams (1831–1870), Charles Francis Adams Jr. (1835–1915), Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918), Arthur Adams (1841–1846), Mary Gardiner Adams (1845–1928), and Peter Chardon Brooks Adams (1848–1927).
He was the paternal grandson and namesake of the 6th President, John Quincy Adams, and the great-grandson of the 2nd President, John Adams. His maternal grandfather was shipping magnate Peter Chardon Brooks (1767–1849).
He graduated from Harvard University in 1853, studied law, attained admission to the bar, and practiced in Boston. He later established an experimental model farm near Quincy, Massachusetts.
Career
During the Civil War he served on the staff of Governor John Andrew with the rank of Colonel.
Adams served in several local offices in Quincy, including town meeting moderator, school board chairman and judge of the local court. He was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature as a Republican, but soon switched to the Democratic Party because of his disaffection with Republican Reconstruction policies. In addition to serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1865, 1867, 1870 and 1873.
Every year from 1867 to 1871, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts.
In 1868, at the Democratic National Convention, Adams received one vote for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. In 1872, the faction of Democrats that refused to support Horace Greeley nominated Charles O'Conor for president and Adams for vice-president on the "straight Democratic" ticket. They declined, but their names remained on the ballot in some states.
In 1873, he was the unsuccessful nominee for lieutenant governor. After losing an election for lieutenant governor in 1876, Adams refused most further involvement in politics, though he was considered by Grover Cleveland for a cabinet position in 1893.
In 1877, he was made a member of the Harvard Corporation.
Personal life
In 1861, Adams married Frances "Fanny" Cadwalader Crowninshield (1839–1911), daughter of George Crowninshield (1812–1857) and Harriet Sears Crowninshield (1809–1873) of the politically powerful Crowninshield family. Fanny was the granddaughter of former United States Secretary of the Navy under presidents Madison and Monroe, Benjamin Williams Crowninshield.
Adams died at age 60 in Wollaston, Massachusetts on August 24, 1894. He was buried at Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy. His widow died in 1911, and left an estate worth $1,200,000 to their three surviving children.
Descendants
Through his daughter, Abigail, he was the grandfather of George Casper Homans (1910–1989), a sociologist and the founder of behavioral sociology and the Social Exchange Theory.