The New International Encyclopædia/Adams, William Taylor

ADAMS, William Taylor (1822-97). An American educator and writer of juvenile fiction, popularly known as “Oliver Optic.” He was born at Medway, Mass. For twenty years he taught in Boston public schools; for fourteen years he was a member of the Dorchester School Committee, and he was once elected to the Legislature. His first book, Hatchie, the Guardian Slave (1853), was followed by more than a hundred volumes of juvenile fiction, contributed in large part to Oliver Optic's Magazine, of which he was the editor. These stories appeared in series, of which the most popular were: The Boat Club, Young America Abroad, The Starry Flag, Onward and Upward, and The Yacht Club. He published also two novels, The Way of the World, and Living Too Fast.