Charles Francis Adams
son of John Quincy Adams, entered politics as a “conscience” Whig, founded the Boston Whig, and in 1848 ran for the vice-presidency as a Free-Soil candidate. He later entered Congress as a Republican, and in 1861 was appointed minister to England, where he served during the Civil War. His diplomacy prevented England from continuing to furnish ironclad vessels to the Confederacy, and he was an arbitrator of the Alabama Claims. He edited the Works of John Adams (1850–56), the letters of Abigail Adams, and the Memoirs of John Quincy Adams (12 vols., 1874–77). Henry, Brooks, and Charles Francis Adams, Jr., were his sons.