Quincy Adams Shaw (February 8, 1825June 12, 1908) was a

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonis ...

investor and

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

who was the first president of

Calumet and Hecla Mining Company The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was a major copper-mining company based within Michigan's Copper Country. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company in the Uni ...

Family and early life

Shaw came from a famous and moneyed Boston family. With a net worth of $1,000,000 in 1846, Shaw's father (Robert Gould Shaw, 1776–1853) was one of the wealthiest men in Boston. His mother was Elizabeth Willard Parkman (March 31, 1785April 14, 1853), whose father Samuel Parkman (August 22, 1751June 11, 1824) was the original source of capital upon which her husband built one of the wealthiest and largest business enterprises in Boston at that time.

George Parkman George Parkman (February 19, 1790November 23, 1849), a Boston Brahmin and a member of one of Boston's richest families, was a prominent physician, businessman, and philanthropist, as well the victim in the sensationally gruesome Parkman–Webste ...

(February 19, 1790November 23, 1849), a wealthy Boston physician who was murdered in 1849 in a gruesome and highly publicized case, was Elizabeth's brother. Shaw was good friends with his cousin, American historian Francis Parkman Junior (September 16, 1823November 8, 1893), and the pair travelled together to the American West after graduating from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1845. Parkman's 1849 book, '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'', is dedicated to Shaw. Shaw's older brother Francis George Shaw (October 23, 1809November 7, 1882) was an outspoken advocate of the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

."An old abolitionist dead: Francis George Shaw and his services in the cause of freedom."
''The New York Times'', p. 5, November 9, 1882. Shaw's nephew, son of Francis George, was

Robert Gould Shaw Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into a prominent Boston Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist family, he accepted command of the firs ...

(October 10, 1837July 18, 1863). The latter was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Volunteer Army of the United States United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, or other variations of these, were military volunteers called upon during wartime to assist the United States Army but who were separate from both the Regular Army and the ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and commander of the all-

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

54th Regiment. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was killed in action during the

Second Battle of Fort Wagner The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, also known as the Second Assault on Morris Island or the Battle of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, was fought on July 18, 1863, during the American Civil War. Union Army troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Quincy Gillm ...

in 1863.

Later life

On November 30, 1860, Shaw married Pauline Agassiz (February 6, 1841 – February 10, 1917), daughter of

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

and the step daughter of Elizabeth Cabot Cary. They had five children: Pauline, Marian, Louis Agassiz Shaw, Sr. (September 18, 1861 – July 2, 1891), Quincy Adams (July 30, 1869 – May 8, 1960), and Robert Gould II (1873–1930). Shaw's grandson,

Louis Agassiz Shaw, Jr. Louis Agassiz Shaw Jr. (September 25, 1886 – August 27, 1940) was an professor, instructor of physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, School of Public Health of Harvard University, where he is credited in 1928 along with Philip Drin ...

, is credited along with Philip Drinker for inventing the Drinker respirator, the first widely used iron lung.

Career

Shaw and his brother-in-law

Henry Lee Higginson Henry Lee Higginson (November 18, 1834 – November 14, 1919) was an American businessman best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a patron of Harvard University. Biography Higginson was born in New York City on November 18 ...

(1834–1919) became major investors in the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, and Shaw was the first president of the company. Shaw retained that position for only a few months before

Alexander Emanuel Agassiz Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (December 17, 1835March 27, 1910), son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer. Biography Agassiz was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and immigrated t ...

(another brother-in-law) took over. In his ''

Boston Daily Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachus ...

'' obituary, Shaw was named "the heaviest individual taxpayer in Massachusetts" and "the head of the family whose members in various ways have done much to promote the educational and commercial interests of Boston."''Boston Daily Globe'' June 13, 1908
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Quincy Adams 1825 births 1908 deaths American investors Harvard University alumni Calumet and Hecla Mining Company personnel 19th-century American businesspeople