William Taylor Adams
William Taylor Adams (July 30, 1822 – March 27, 1897), pseudonym Oliver Optic, was a noted academic, author, and Massachusetts state legislator. He was born in Medway, Massachusetts in 1822 to Captain Laban Adams and Catherine Johnson Adams. He became a teacher in the Boston, Massachusetts public schools in 1845, and remained in that capacity through 1865. In 1846, he married Sarah Jenkins, with whom he had two children. He served as a member of the School Board of Dorchester, Massachusetts, for 14 years. In 1869, he became a member of the Massachusetts General Court. He died in Dorchester in 1897.
His first book, Hatchie, the Guardian Slave (1853), was published under the pseudonym of Warren T. Ashton[1]
He wrote more than 100 books of fiction for boys under the pseudonym "Oliver Optic," published in large part as series in Oliver Optic's Magazine, of which he was the editor.[2] Among the more popular titles were:
- Indoors and Out (1855)
- The Boat Club (1855)
- Young America Abroad
- The Starry Flag
- Onward and Upward
- The Yacht Club
Other titles included stories about the Civil War.[3] He also wrote two novels, The Way of the World and Living Too Fast.[2]
Adams' writing was criticized by Louisa May Alcott, among others. Alcott used her story Eight Cousins to deplore Adams' use of slang, his cast of bootblacks and newsboys, and his stories of police courts and saloons. Adams responded in kind, pointing out Alcott's own use of slang and improbable plot twists. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Jones, Dolores. An 'Oliver Optic" Checklist, 001; Wright, Lyle H. American Fiction, 1851 - 1875 Volume II, 25; Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.
- ^ a b
"Adams, William Taylor". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. - ^ See checklist at www.uta.edu: Civil War Authors
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oliver Optic |
 |
Wikisource has the text of a 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article about William Taylor Adams. |
- Works by Oliver Optic at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)
- Works by Oliver Optic at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions illustrated)
- Works by William Taylor Adams at Internet Archive
  |
This biography of an American academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a novelist of the United States born in the 1820s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
