It was a rainy Wednesday evening on the Ohio River, November 15, 1843. John Quincy Adams was aboard the steamboat Benjamin Franklin, making his way up the river from Marietta, Ohio, to Pittsburgh. A few prominent citizens from the Marietta area accompanied him, among them Ephraim Cutler. Adams was a famous American, son of a president, a former diplomat and president himself, still an active member of Congress, known as “Old Man Eloquent” for the felicity of style with which he championed his staunch anti-slavery politics—which went hand in hand with his pro-American, pro-science, pro-humanity politics… to continue reading please click here.
