Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/57

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ADAMS.ADDICKS.

Christian creed. He was president of the New York institution for the deaf and dumb. He died in New York city, Aug. 31, 1880.

ADAMS, William, educator, was born in Monaghan, Ireland, July 3, 1813. He was graduated from Trinity college, Dublin, B.A., 1838; and studied law, 1838, and medicine, 1839. He immigrated to New York city in 1839 and entered the General theological seminary of the Protestant Episcopal church, graduating in 1841. He was ordained a deacon July, 1841, and priest Oct. 9, 1843. He removed to Nashotah, Wis., where he established Nashotah mission, afterward Nashotah House. He was rector at Delafield and Pine Lake, 1878-'86, and occupied the chair of systematic divinity at Nashotah House as professor and professor emeritus from its foundation to the time of his death. He published: "Mercy to Babes" (1847); "Christian Science" (1850) and a new "Treatise on Baptismal Regeneration" (1871). He died in Nashotah, Wis., Jan. 2, 1897.

ADAMS, William Forbes, second bishop of Easton, and 109th in succession in the American Episcopate, was born in Enniskillen, Ireland, Jan. 2, 1833. At an early age he was brought to America by his parents, who settled in Kentucky. Young Adams was fitted for Yale, but pecuniary reverses attendant upon the failure of his father in business, obliged him to forego his plans. He bravely accepted the change in his circumstances, obtained a mercantile situation, and in his leisure time studied law. At the age of twenty-one he was admitted to the Mississippi bar. He removed to Tennessee, and pursued his theological studies with a view to entering the church; he returned to Mississippi before the completion of his course, and was ordained a deacon in St. Andrew's church, Jackson, Miss., in 1859; he was admitted to full orders July 29, 1860. His first charge, which he held for six years, was St. Paul's, Woodville, Miss.; in 1866 he became rector of St. Peter's, New Orleans, and took charge of St. Paul's in the same city the following year, where he remained until his consecration as first missionary bishop of New Mexico and Arizona in 1875. He accepted the duties of his charge with every promise of abundant success, but the fatigues of the long and painful journeys, necessary in so new and extensive a diocese, undermined a constitution already impaired by his ministrations to sufferers from yellow fever in Louisiana, and compelled his resignation, which in 1877 was accepted by the house of bishops. From 1876 to 1887 Dr. Adams was rector of Holy Trinity, Vicksburg, Miss., when he was again elected to the episcopal office, as bishop of Easton. He received the degree of D.C.L. from the university of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.

ADAMS, William Taylor, "Oliver Optic," author, was born at Medway, Mass., July 30, 1822. He was educated in the public schools of Boston, and began life as a teacher being connected at various times, with the Harris school in Dorchester, and the Dwight, Boylston, and Bowditch schools in Boston. He turned his attention to literary work in 1853; edited The Student and Schoolmate, 1858-'66; Oliver Optic's Magazine, 1867-'75, and Our Little Ones, and Our Boys and Girls for the Russell Publishing Company. He was a representative in the Massachusetts legislature in 1869; visited Europe more than twenty times and traveled in Asia and Africa. He is the author of: "Hatchie the Guardian Slave, or the Heiress of Bellevue" (1853); "The Boat Club Series;" "Army and Navy Stories;" "Boat Builder Series;" "Great Western Series;" "Lake Shore Series;" "Outward and Upward Series;" "Riverdale Story Books;" "Starry Flag Series;" "Household Library;" "Blue and Gray Afloat;" "Blue and Gray on Land;" "All-Over-The-World Series;" "Woodville Stories;" "Yacht Club Series;" "Young America Abroad Series;" "Across India or Five Boys in the Far East" (1895); "A Lieutenant at Eighteen" (1895); "In the Saddle" (1895), and over 1000 short stories. He died at Dorchester, Mass., March 27, 1897.

ADAMSON, William Charles, representative, was born in Bowdon, Ga., Aug. 13, 1854; son of John W. and Mary A. (McDaniel) Adamson, and grandson of William C. Adamson, and of John McDaniel. His youth was spent on a farm and in hauling cotton and goods between Atlanta and Bowdoin. He was graduated at Bowdoin college in 1874, studied law in the office of the Hon. S. W. Harris, was admitted to the bar in October, 1876, and practised in Carrollton, Ga. He was judge of the city court of Carrollton, 1885-'89; city attorney for a number of years; presidential elector in 1892; and a representative in the 55th and 56th congresses, 1897-1901. He was married Jan. 29, 1885, to Minna Reese of Carrollton, Ga.

ADDICKS, George B., educator, was born at Hampton, Rock Island county, Ill., Sept. 9, 1854, son of Gerhard and Mary (Franke) Addicks. Both his parents were natives of Germany, his father emigrating from Oldenburg and his mother from Hanover. The boy was educated in the public and parochial schools, and pursued his classical studies at central Wesleyan college, Warrenton, Mo., where he was graduated in 1874, and his theological course at the Biblical institute Evanston, Ill. He was licensed to preach in 1871. In 1875 he was tutor in the central Wesleyan college, and in 1876 professor of the German language in the German college and Iowa Wesleyan university, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, holding the position for seven years. He then served the First German