He played also at the St. Charles theatre, Baltimore, where he achieved his first great success. About 1860 he appeared in Bufi'alo as Hamlet, and subsequently with Miss Kate Bateman and Mr. J. W. Wallack at the Winter Garden in New York; and afterward in all the principal cities in the United States as a star. In 1866 he returned to New York, and in Wallack's old theatre, the Broadway, played Robert Landry in the "Dead Heart," and Adrian de Teligny in the "Heretic." At the opening of Booth's theatre, 3 Feb., 1867, he appeared as Mercutio, and shortly afterward enacted Narcisse, lago, Raphael, Rover, Claude Melnotte, and Enoch Arden, this last character becoming a great favorite. He appeared with Edwin Booth during the season of 1869-'70 in several of Shakespeare's plays, then visited Australia, where his health failed, and, returning to San Francisco, received a generous benefit, 27 May, 1876, followed by others in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and elsewhere. He possessed a voice of wonderful richness, strength, and melody, and was regarded as one of the best light comedians on the stage. His wife, a clever actress and graceful danseuse, retired from the stage several years ago.
ADAMS, Eliphalet, clergyman, b. in Dedham, Mass., 26 March, 1677; d. in New London, Conn., 4 Oct., 1753. He was the son of Rev. William Adams, the second minister of Dedham, Mass., was graduated at Harvard college in 1694, preached in various places without settlement for ten years, and in 1709 was ordained a Congregational minister in New London, Conn. He was a man of learning, and was an
eminent Hebraist. A diary kept by him for several years is preserved in the "Massachusetts Historical Collection," iv, 1. Having become interested in the welfare of the Lidians in the region, he acquired their language. As a preacher he was popular, and various of his sermons were delivered before bodies educational and political. Many of them were published, the principal ones being, one on the death of Rev. James Noyes, of Stonington, 1706; election sermons, 1710 and 1713; a discourse occasioned by a storm, 1717; Thanksgiving sermon, 1721; on the death of Gov. Saltonstail, 1724; on the ordination of Rev. William Gager, 1725; on the ordination of Thos. Clap, 1726, and a discourse before young men, 1727.
ADAMS, Ezra Eastman, author, b. in Concord,
N. H., 29 Aug., 1813; d. in Oxford, Pa., 3 Nov.,
1871. He was graduated at Dartmouth college in
1836, and in 1840 became chaplain to the seamen at
Havre, France. After ten years of assiduous labor,
he made an extensive tour in Europe, and then re-
turned to America. In 1854 he became pastor of
the Pearl st. Congregational church in Nashua, N.
H., whence in 1860 he went to Philadelphia and
entered the service of the foreign evangelical so-
ciety. Soon afterward he took charge of an enter-
prise that developed into the Broad st. church of
that city. From 1867 till his death he was pro-
fessor of theology in Lincoln university, near Ox-
ford, Pa., and in 1870 he began editorial work on
the " Presbyterian." He wrote poems of merit.
ADAMS, Frederick Whiting, musician, b. in
Pawlet, Vt., in 1786; d. in Montpelier, Vt., 17 Dec.,
1858. He was a good performer on the violin, and
early turned his attention to violin-making. He
conceived the opinion that the superior tones of
the Amati and Stradivarius instruments were due
to their having been made of old and seasoned
wood, and accordingly he searched the forests of
northern Vermont and Canada for maple and pine,
taking his wood from partially decayed trees, and
constructed 140 violins, some of which were re-
markable for their powerful and sweet tones. He was the author of “Theological Criticisms” (Montpelier, 1843).
ADAMS, Hannah, author, b. in Medfield, Mass.,
in 1755; d. in Brookline, 15 Nov., 1832. She was
the first woman in America who made literature a
profession. Showing at an early age a fondness
for study, she acquired a fair knowledge of Greek
and Latin from divinity students boarding with
her father, who was himself a man of literary tastes.
He became bankrupt when she was in her
seventeenth year, and she and her brothers and sisters
were obliged to provide for themselves. During
the war of the revolution she supported herself by
making lace, and afterward by teaching. She was
a woman of varied learning and indomitable
perseverance. Her principal work was a “View of
Religious Opinions” (1784), in which she gave a
comprehensive survey of the various religions of the
world. It was divided into: 1. An Alphabetical
Compendium of the Denominations among
Christians; 2. A Brief Account of Paganism,
Mohammedanism, Judaism, and Deism; 3. An Account
of the Different Religions of the World. The work
passed through several editions, and was reprinted
in England. In the fourth edition she changed
the title to “Dictionary of Religions.” She wrote
also a “History of New England” (1799) and
“Evidences of Christianity” (1801). Her writings
brought her little pecuniary profit, yet they secured
her many friends, among them the Abbé Grégoire,
with whom she carried on an extensive
correspondence, and also received his aid in preparing
her “History of the Jews” (1812). In 1814 she
published a “Controversy with Dr. Morse,” and in
1826 “Letters on the Gospels.” She was simple in
her manners and of rare modesty. A voyage from
Boston to Nahant, about ten miles, was her only
journey by water, and a trip to Chelmsford her
farthest by land. During the closing years of her
life she enjoyed an annuity provided by friends in
Boston, and at her death was buried in Mount
Auburn, the first person whose body was placed in
that cemetery. Her autobiography, edited with
additions by Mrs. Hannah F. Lee, was published
in Boston in 1832.
ADAMS, Henry A., Jr., naval officer, b. in
Pennsylvania in 1833. He entered the naval school
at Annapolis in 1849, and was graduated in 1851;
became a passed midshipman in 1854, and a master
the following year, when, while attached to the
sloop of war “Levant,” he took part in the engagement
with the forts at the mouth of Canton river,
China. He was commissioned as lieutenant in
1856, and was on the “Brooklyn” at the passage
of forts St. Philip and Jackson, and the capture of
New Orleans in April, 1862. Commissioned as
lieutenant-commander and transferred to the North
Atlantic blockading squadron, he participated in
both the attacks on Fort Fisher, and received the
encomium from Admiral Porter in his official
despatch of 28 Jan., 1865, “I recommend the promotion
of Lieut.-Com. H. A. Adams, without whose
aid we should have been brought to a standstill
more than once. He volunteered for anything and
everything.” After the taking of Richmond he
was one of the party that accompanied President
Lincoln on his entry into the city. He was
commissioned as commander in July, 1866, and was
ordered to the store-ship “Guard,” of the European
squadron, where he remained during 1868-'9, and
was afterward assigned to duty in 1870 in the
navy-yard at Philadelphia.
ADAMS, Herbert Baxter, educator, b. in Amherst, Mass., 16 April, 1850. His early training
