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William Taylor Adams

(Oliver Optic)

William Taylor Adams was born on 30th July 1822, in Medway, Massachusetts, United States. His parents were Captain Laban Adams and Catherine Johnson Adams.

Adams began his career as a teacher in 1943 at Lower Road School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Three years later he took a break from the profession to help his father and brother run a hotel in Boston, called the Adams House Hotel. However, life as a hotelier was not for him and in 1948 he returned to the classroom to teach at Boylston School in Boston. He became a master there before transferring to the newly founded Bowditch School, where he remained until his resignation from teaching in 1865.

As a teacher, his continuous contact with boys gave him a great insight into their interests and this served him incredibly well when he decided to start writing fiction aimed at them. He was also a well travelled man, who had an excellent knowledge of boats, farming, and mechanics, all of which turned out to be fascinating subjects to the young readers. His first published work Hatchie, the Guardian Slave (1853), was published under the pseudonym of Warren T. Ashton. This was not a massive success, but he continued to write, and in 1855 he produced the first instalment in the Boat Club series. This was hugely popular and the adoption of writing series became a bit of a trademark of his. He went on to produce many more, often in four to six volumes. Notable examples of these are: Army and Navy (1863-1866), Young America Abroad (1866-1869), Yacht Club (1872-1875), and Great Western (1875-1881). Among his best-known works were the two “Blue & Gray” series, which were set during the Civil War. Adams never wrote under his own name. His most common pseudonym was that of “Oliver Optic”, but he also used “Irving Brown,” “Clingham Hunter, M.D.,” and “Old Stager.”

Outside of the literary world, Adams served on the school boards of the town of Dorchester in Massachusetts, and later the City of Boston. He also served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, for the 5th Norfolk District, from January 6, 1869 to January 5th 1870.

Adams died on 27th March 1897.

TO

My Fellow-Voyager in the Steamship Persia

DURING A PLEASANT TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC,

IN 1865,

STEPHEN S. HOE,

WHOSE NAME EVER REMINDS ME OF MY PERSONAL INDEBTEDNESS

FOR MUCH OF THE PLEASURE OF THE VOYAGE; NOT ONLY

TO MY YOUNG FRIEND WHOSE NAME I MENTION HERE,

BUT ALSO TO HIM WHO SAT OPPOSITE TO US AT

TABLE, WHOSE NAME, ASSOCIATED WITH

ONE OF THE PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENTS

OF AMERICAN INVENTIVE GENIUS,

I NEED NOT MENTION, FOR

NO WORD OF MINE

COULD HONOR

IT,

THIS VOLUME

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

A Squall in the German Ocean.