When Carl Sandburg was very young, he applied for a library card. The Galesburg library was located on the second floor of a building on Main Street near the Public Square. Miss Phillips was the librarian.

 

He learned to use the catalog to find the books he wanted to read. There was an impressive number of  them listed in there. Carl thought the librarian had to be really smart to know about all those books.

 

Sometimes his favorite kinds of books were checked out, so he had to find others to read. One day he was forced to check out a book titled Queer Stories for Young People. Miss Phillips stamped the return date inside the cover of the book and commented “Here you are, little Queer Stories.” He was highly insulted. He didn't regard himself as little anymore. He was sure queer people acted queer and said queer things.

 

Books by Oliver Optic were among Sandburg's favorites. More than 125 of them were published. They were easy to read, had plenty of action and provided a moral lesson.

 

Oliver Optic was the pseudonym used by William Taylor Adams. He was born July 30, 1822, in Medway, Massachusetts. He was a member of the same family as United States presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Their ancestor, Henry Adams, had come to Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1632 from Devonshire, England.

 

He began teaching school at the age of twenty-three. His close contact with the students gave him insight into the things that interested them. He was well versed in farming, mechanics and, having grown up in New England, sailing.

 

Adams traveled to Europe more than twenty times and incorporated his experiences into his stories. The novels were usually written as a series of four to six books. There was also an Oliver Optic Magazine published between 1867 and 1875. It was the most popular children's magazine of the time.

 

In the 1880s other authors criticized the Oliver Optic books for  being too sensational. Some libraries went so far as to remove the books from their shelves and destroy them. Apparently, the Galesburg Public Library saw no need to deny its patrons the enjoyment of reading the stories.

 

William served on the Boston School Board for fourteen years and served one term in the state legislature. He was a Sunday School superintendent for twenty years.

 

He worked on his writing for four to five hours every morning. Having outlined the story of each novel, he could produce three chapters a day. By the time of his death in 1897, two million copies of his books had been sold. He was one of the highest paid authors of the nineteenth century.

 

The Reverend Christopher R. Eliot gave the eulogy at Adams' funeral. He began by saying, “Oliver Optic was the children's friend.” He went on to describe Adams' career as a Sunday School superintendent, school teacher, public official and writer. He emphasized that Adams was a friend of humanity and always ready to help anyone in need.

 

The man who was known to millions of readers as Oliver Optic was buried next to his wife, Sarah, in the Cedar Grove Cemetery, Dorchester, Massachusetts, at the end of March, 1897.