The Ely miner., 1930-08-15

- lilies which, over a period
or years, have contributed several in
dlVlduals of distinction. Two of these
which come readiest to mind are the
Lees, who during the Revolution pro-
duced statesman and a soldier. both
of more than ordinary ability. and dur
ing the Civil war a really great mil
itary leader: and the Harrisons. who
produced Revolutionary war states
man and two Presidents.
But if it is necessary TO find an ex-
ception TO prove the rule it may be
found. perhaps. in the statement made
by some one that american history is
all cluttered up with Adamses" For
"in America there is one family, and
only one, that generation after genera
tion has consistently and without in
terruptiOn. made contributions of the
highest order to our history and civil
liZation." Those are the words of
James TruslOw Adams (who. by the
way, is Virginia Adams and not re-
lated to the Massachusetts family of
whom he writes) in the prologue to
his book, "The Adams Family" pub
lished recently by Little. Brown and
company of Boston. He continues:
after. four generations of simple
but public-spirited yeOmen. following
primal immigration from England. a
something, we know not what, Oc-
Cured in the blood or brain of the lire
and lifted it to higher plane, from
which ii has never descended. The
family story is an inspiring tale and
a fascinating problem. That farm
er's son should become a President is,
happily. no strange phenomenon in the
great democracy. but it is strange, in
deed, that his descendants. for five
generations. by public service in the
highest Of offices or by intellectual
contributions. should remain leaders of
the nation which their ancestors so
conspicuously helped to found"
The Adams family was established in
America about 1886 when certain
Henry Adams. probably because of a
combination of religious and economic
reasons, decided to leave England and
try his luck in the New world. BY
chance he settled at a place called
Braintree in Massachusetts. He mar
ried and had children. who in turn
married and handed down the family
name. This went on for four gener-
ations until, it seems the turning point
came in the early part of the Eight
eenth century when John Adams.
farmer and shoemaker in Braintree,
married Susanna Boylston, daughter
OF family prominent in the medical
history of the colony.
"Thus far, the family had not dis
played the slightest element of great
ness or distinction of either mind or
achievement" says Adams. the his
torian of the Adamses. "They had
been hard working, pious, reliable.
public-spirited village folk. A few
miles away in Boston counting rooms
or state house. fortunes were being
built up, regulations gained, and his
tory made. In fact, in view of the
amount of history spun in Boston. the
smallness of the stage on which the
actors played their parts is note
worthy. Yet in hundred and
twenty-five years not an Adams had
played any speaking part in the crisis
after crisis which had marked the his
tory of the little community In its In
ternal development or its relations
with England. There was no
lack of opportunity for able men.
But of the four generations Of
Adamses, all doing their private and
public duty well in the narrow sphere
of their village, none had shown either
the ability or the ambition to take part
In the larger life of the colony.
with the fifth generation. in the
person of John Adams. historian. pub
licist, diplomat, President of the Unit
ed States, the family not only sudden
ly achieves national and international
position, but maintains ii in successive
generations for two centuries. Was ii
due to- some mysterious result from
the combination of Adams and Boyls-
ton blood far beyond the ken of sci
ence even today or to some unfathom-
able synchronism between the peculiar
qualities of the Adamses and the
whole social atmosphere of the next
few generations, subtle interplay of
unknown forces; or TO mere chance n
a universe in which atoms rush and
collide chaotically? Fascinating MS is
the problem. il is inso!uhle- All we
shall see is that without warning. Ike
q fault in the geologic record. there