Henry Adams, age 20, 1858, at his Harvard graduation.
The grandson of John Quincy Adams (and the great-grandson of founding father John Adams), during the civil war Henry Adams was private secretary to his father, a Congressman in the House of Representatives.
His influential circle of friends was known as “The Five of Hearts,” and included Lincoln’s secretary John Hay. He later became friends with Walt Whitman, Rudyard Kipling, Teddy Roosevelt, and many others.
We highly suggest Patricia O’Toole’s biography The Five of Hearts for more on this gregarious studmuffin.
Submitted by Mary Mann
