William Taylor Adams, also known as Oliver Optic, was a professor, writer, and representative from Massachusetts from July 30, 1822 until March 27, 1897. Captain Laban Adams and Catherine Johnson Adams, both tavern keepers, welcomed Adams into the world on July 30, 1822 in Medway, Massachusetts. Adams attended West Roxbury and Boston-area schools as an honors student. He spent a year studying at Abel Whitney's private academy after completing his public education. In 1843, Adams started working as a teacher at the Lower Road School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1846, he left his post as the school's headmaster to help his father and brother run their brand-new hotel in Boston, the Adams House Hotel. Adams traveled to Asia and Africa in addition to more than twenty trips to Europe. He wed Sarah Jenkins in 1846, and the two of them produced two daughters: Emma Louisa Adams and Alice Maria Adams. At the age of 28, Adams started writing, and his first novel, Hatchie, the Guardian Slave (1853), was released using the alias Warren T. Ashton. Adams seemed unfazed even though it was only a marginal success.
