A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists/Adams, Robert
Adams, Robert, Canadian writer. B. 1839. Adams was the son of an American clergyman, and was in his boyhood very delicate, emotional, and religious. He was sent to sea for his health, and in the course of time became captain. In later years he won a good position as a shipowner at Montreal. He retained his fine sensitive character, and in 1881 he startled Boston with a confession (A Radical Avowal) that conscience compelled him to quit the Church. For many years he worked generously, by lectures and contributions to Freethought journals, for the advancement of Rationalism in Canada. He published Travels in Faith from Tradition to Reason (1884), and other works. In 1889 he was President of the Canadian Secular Union. D. Aug., 1902.