William Taylor Adams


William Taylor Adams, pseudonym Oliver Optic, was an academic, author, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Adams was born in Medway, Massachusetts, on July 30, 1822, to tavern keeper Captain Laban Adams and Catherine Johnson Adams.
Adams was an honors student at schools in Boston and West Roxbury. After finishing public school, he attended Abel Whitney's private academy for a year.

Teaching career

Adams became a teacher in the Lower Road School in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1843. He resigned from his position as master of the school in 1846 in order to assist his father and brother in the management of their new hotel in Boston, the Adams House hotel. Adams decided that he preferred teaching so in 1848 he returned to teaching, this time at the Boylston School in Boston. In 1860, Adams was promoted to the position of master of the Boylston School. When the Bowditch School was founded, Adams transferred to that school as its master, a position he held until he resigned from teaching in 1865. This experience naturally brought him closely into contact with boys, and he learned much of what interested them, which had a good deal to do with his eventual success as an author. Extensive travel abroad and a deep knowledge of boats, farming, and practical mechanics were other factors that gave his works reality.

Family life

Adams visited Europe more than twenty times and traveled in Asia and Africa. In 1846, he married Sarah Jenkins, with whom he had two daughters, Alice Maria Adams and Emma Louisa Adams.

School committee service

Adams served as a member of the Harris school board of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and later of the Dwight, Boylston, and Bowditch schools in the city of Boston, for 14 years.

Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Adams served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, for the 5th Norfolk District, from January 6, 1869, to January 5, 1870.

Career as an author

Adams first began to write at the age of 28, and his first book, Hatchie, the Guardian Slave, was published under the pseudonym of Warren T. Ashton. It was only a modest success, but Adams was undaunted. In 1854 Adams produced his first real hit, the initial volume in the Boat Club series. Adams continued to write until he died in Dorchester, March 27, 1897. Among his best-known works were the two "Blue & Gray" series, which were set during the Civil War.
Adams wrote well over 100 books in total, most of them for a boy audience, and the majority of these in series of four to six volumes published under a pseudonym. Two novels published in his own name, The Way of the World and Living Too Fast, were aimed at adult readers but fell flat. Though "Oliver Optic" was the pseudonym he used most, his work also appeared under the bylines "Irving Brown," "Clingham Hunter, M.D.," and "Old Stager." Like many children's authors of his day, he was additionally an editor, and many of his works first appeared in Oliver Optic's Magazine.
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.

List of works

Books for both boys and girls

Riverdale Stories (subtitled : A Story for Little Folks, all 1862)

  1. The Little Merchant
  2. The Young Voyagers
  3. The Christmas Gift
  4. Dolly and I
  5. Uncle Ben
  6. The Birthday Party
  7. Proud and Lazy
  8. Careless Kate
  9. Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
  10. The Picnic Party
  11. The Gold Thimble
  12. ''The Do-Somethings''

    Woodville

  13. Rich and Humble; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant
  14. In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant
  15. Watch and Wait; or, The Young Fugitives
  16. Work and Win; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise
  17. Hope and Have; or, Fanny Grant Among the Indians
  18. ''Haste and Waste; or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain''

    Series for boys

Boat Club

  1. The Boat Club; or, The Bunkers of Rippleton
  2. All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake
  3. Now or Never; or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright
  4. Try Again; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West
  5. Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn
  6. ''Little by Little; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway''

    Army and Navy

  7. The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army
  8. The Sailor Boy; or, Jack Somers in the Navy
  9. The Young Lieutenant; or, The Adventures of an Army Officer
  10. The Yankee Middy; or, The Adventures of a Naval Officer
  11. Fighting Joe; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer
  12. ''Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter Deck''

    Young America Abroad - first series

  13. Outward Bound; or, Young America Afloat
  14. Shamrock and Thistle; or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland
  15. Red Cross; or, Young America in England and Wales
  16. Dikes and Ditches; or Young America in Holland and Belgium
  17. Palace and Cottage; or Young America in France and Switzerland
  18. ''Down the Rhine; or, Young America in Germany''

    Young America Abroad - second series

  19. Up the Baltic; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden and Denmark
  20. Northern Lands; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia
  21. Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece
  22. Sunny Shores; or, Young America in Italy and Austria
  23. Vine and Olive; or, Young America in Spain and Portugal
  24. ''Isles of the Sea; or, Young America Homeward Bound''

    Starry Flag

  25. The Starry Flag; or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann
  26. Breaking Away; or, The Fortunes of a Student
  27. Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy
  28. Freaks of Fortune; or, Half Round the World
  29. Make or Break; or, The Rich Man's Daughter
  30. ''Down the River; or, Buck Bradford and His Tyrants''

    Upward and Onward

  31. Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer
  32. Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic
  33. Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk
  34. Cringle and Cross-tree; or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor
  35. Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier
  36. ''Sea and Shore; or, The Tramps of a Traveller''

    Yacht Club

  37. Little Bobtail; or, The Wreck of the Penobscot
  38. The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat-Builder
  39. Money-Maker; or, The Victory of the Basilisk
  40. The Coming Wave; or, The Hidden Treasure of High Rock
  41. The Dorcas Club; or, Our Girls Afloat
  42. ''Ocean-Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs''

    Lake Shore

  43. Through by Daylight; or, The Young Engineer of the Lake Shore Express
  44. Lightning Express; or, The Rival Academies
  45. On Time; or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga Steamer
  46. Switch Off; or, The War of the Students
  47. Brake Up; or, The Young Peacemakers
  48. Bear and Forbear; or, The Young Skipper of Lake Ucayga''

    Great Western

  49. Going West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy
  50. Out West; or, Roughing It on the Great Lakes
  51. Lake Breezes; or, The Cruise of the Sylvania
  52. Going South; or, Yachting on the Atlantic Coast
  53. Down South; or, Yacht Adventures in Florida
  54. ''Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi''

    Boat-Builder

  55. All Adrift; or, The Goldwing Club
  56. Snug Harbor; or, The Champlain Mechanics
  57. Square and Compasses; or, Building the House
  58. Stem to Stern; or, Building the Boat
  59. All Taut; or, Rigging the Boat
  60. ''Ready About; or, Sailing the Boat''

    Blue and the Gray Afloat

  61. Taken by the Enemy
  62. Within the Enemy's Lines
  63. On the Blockade
  64. Stand by the Union
  65. Fighting for the Right
  66. ''A Victorious Union''

    Blue and the Gray on Land

  67. Brother against Brother; or, The War on the Border
  68. In the Saddle
  69. A Lieutenant at Eighteen
  70. On the Staff
  71. At the Front
  72. ''An Undivided Union''

    All Over the World - first series

  73. A Missing Million; or, The Adventures of Louis Belgrave
  74. A Millionaire at Sixteen; or, The Cruise of the "Guardian-Mother"
  75. A Young Knight-Errant;or, Cruising in the West Indies
  76. ''Strange Sights Abroad; or, A Voyage in European Waters''

    All Over the World - second series

  77. American Boys Afloat; or, Cruising in the Orient
  78. The Young Navigators; or, The Foreign Cruise of the Maud
  79. Up and Down the Nile; or, Young Adventurers in Africa
  80. ''Asiatic Breezes; or, Students on the Wing''

    All Over the World - third series

  81. Across India; or, Live Boys in the Far East
  82. Half Round the World; or, Among the Uncivilized
  83. Four Young Explorers; or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics
  84. ''Pacific Shores; or, Adventures in Eastern Seas''

    Non-series titles

  • A Spelling-Book For Advanced Classes
  • Always in Luck, or Working for a Living
  • Among the Missing, or The Boy They Could Not Beat
  • Breaking Away, or Pluck Brings Luck
  • Building Himself Up, or A Fight for the Right
  • The Casket of Diamonds, or Hope Everton's Inheritance
  • The Coming Wave, or The Hidden Treasure of High Rock
  • The Cruise of the Dandy, or Doing His Best
  • Every Inch a Boy; or, Fighting for a Hold
  • Freaks of Fortune, or Saved from Himself
  • Getting an Indorser, and Other Stories
  • The Great Bonanza: An Illustrated Narrative of Adventure and Discovery in Gold Mining, Silver Mining, Among the Raftsmen, In the Oil Regions, Whaling, Hunting, Fishing, and Fighting
  • His Own Helper; or, By Sheer Pluck
  • Honest Kit Dunstable, or The Boy Who Earned Money
  • In Doors and Out; or, Views from the Chimney Corner
  • Just his luck
  • Louis Chiswick's Mission; or, Going With the Current
  • Lyon Hart's Heroism; or, Courage Wins
  • Making a Man of Himself, or, Right Makes Might
  • Marrying a Beggar, or The Angel in Disguise, and Other Tales
  • Our Standard-Bearer; or The Life of General Ulysses S. Grant: His Youth, His Manhood, His Campaigns, and His Eminent Services in the Reconstruction of the Nation His Sword Has Redeemed
  • The Prisoners of the Cave, or By Sheer Will Power
  • The Professor's Son, or Against All Odds
  • Royal Tarr's Pluck, or The Boy Who Fought Fair
  • Sports and Pastimes for Indoors and Out
  • Striving for His Own
  • Three Young Silver Kings, or At Fortune's Call
  • ''Tried and True, or The Young Peacemakers''

    Books for adults

  • Hatchie, the guardian slave; or, The heiress of Bellevue. A tale of the Mississippi and the South-west
  • Living Too Fast, or The Confessions of a Bank Officer
  • The Voyage of Life: An Allegory
  • ''The Way of the World: A Novel''