A scion of the Adams family that produced two presidents, Charles Francis III, a son of John Quincy Adams II, the oldest son of the Charles Francis Adams Sr., was a great-grandson of the sixth U. S. President John Quincy Adams, and a great-great-grandson of the second U.S. President John Adams. His mother Fanny Crowninshield was the granddaughter of U.S. Secretary of the NavyBenjamin Williams Crowninshield. Adams was also the third cousin twice removed of Otis Norcross, the 19th Mayor of Boston. Both descending from their fourth great grandfather, Joseph Adams; Otis from his first wife Mary , and Charles from his second wife Hannah . Charles Francis Adams Jr. was the uncle, not the father of Charles Francis Adams III, an assumption regularly made by virtue of sequential name succession. Charles F. Adams Jr. had five children, the first three being daughters, which may explain why his brother John Q. Adams II took the prerogative to name his son after their uncle. Charles, Jr.'s only sons were born in 1875.
Career
After graduating from Harvard Law and being admitted to the bar in 1893, he was first a lawyer, then went into business. From 1896 to 1897, Adams served as mayor of Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1903, while serving as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Adams proposed to Congress that the famed frigate USS Constitution be restored and returned to active service. This led to Congress authorizing funds for the restoration of Constitution and opening her to the public in 1907. In 1916, the Massachusetts legislature and electorate approved a calling of a constitutional convention. Adams was elected as a delegate at large to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917. At one time, he was an officer in 43 corporations, including several banks and many of the country's largest corporations such as the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Harvard Corporation.
Secretary of the Navy
From 1929 until his retirement in 1933, Adams served as the Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover. While Secretary, Adams vigorously promoted public understanding of the Navy's indispensable role in international affairs, and worked strenuously to maintain naval strength and efficiency during a period of severe economic depression. He served at the London Naval Treaty in 1930 where he successfully maintained the principle of United States naval parity with Britain. In his memoirs, Hoover noted that, had he known Adams at the start of his presidency as well as he did at its end, he would have named Adams his Secretary of State.. Adams was a supporter of limited presidential terms, well before the 22nd Amendment passed, and advocated that the Presidents should be required to renounce political parties and that after they left the presidency, should be made ex-officio members of the United States Senate.
On April 3, 1899, Adams married Frances , the daughter of U.S. Representative William C. Lovering, at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Together, they had two children:
Catherine Frances Lovering Adams in 1902, who married Henry Sturgis Morgan, son of J. P. Morgan, Jr. and one of the founders of Morgan Stanley, along with Harold Stanley, on June 26, 1923. Together, they had five sons.
Charles Francis Adams IV in 1910, who was a prominent businessman and the first president of Raytheon Company, was married firstly to Margaret . Their children were: Abigail Adams, Allison Adams, Charles Francis Adams V, and Timothy Adams. He married secondly, widow Mrs. Beatrice D. Penati.
Adams died on June 11, 1954, and was interred in Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts, on June 13, 1954. His estate, valued at $192,000 in 1954, was left to his widow. In 1899 Adams built his family home and estate on land in Concord, MA formerly owned by his uncle, Charles Francis Adams II. The home, known as Mt. Vernon, stood for 120 years until it was destroyed by fire shortly after Christmas Day 2019.
Honors
The Charles Francis Adams Memorial Trophy for yacht racing was established in his memory, and the Navy destroyer USS Charles F. Adams was dedicated in his honor.
