Hi Megan – I certainly did not intend to infer that your work is “speculative”. You have clearly done a lot of research, as noted by your footnotes, and I believe you have done a great job with this article. The world is certainly a different place today than it was in Charles’ times, and the friendships that men had then and how they interacted take on a different perspective with today’s lens/view. I don’t know of any letters or writings explicitly speaking of any sexual interactions by Charles with his males friends, mentors, etc. Perhaps there were and have been destroyed or lost to time. If anything, perhaps he was bi-sexual, having fathered two children, or like many homosexual men, fathered children regardless of his true sexual preference. His father was had great expectations for him, and obviously did not feel Charles was living up to them. Charles had his demons, alcohol being one of them as others suffered from as well. Whether he was homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etc. doesn’t matter to me. If his sexuality was part of his father’s issues with him, I would not be surprised, but I don’t believe, without facts, that this is a primary cause of the rift and subsequent dissolution of their relationship. I thank you for your work, and bringing his memory to others that are unaware of him and his short life.

I am honored that a direct descendant of Charles Adams read my article. I am very glad to see you trying to keep your great(X4) grandfather’s memory alive.

I am sorry to hear you feel my work is “speculative, with an abscence of proven fact.” I try to only argue for conclusions I feel there is factual evidence to support. Was there a part of my argument in particular that you felt was unfounded? I certainly don’t want to spread misinformation about an interesting man whose legacy should be preserved.