Frederick was sent east to attend St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, at the age of fourteen.
It was only a few years later when Robert Pruyn would hire Charles Edward Adams as his secretary, Frederick's brother, a graduate of St. Paul's and a member of Skull and Bones.
It was engaged in the manufacture and sale of oxygen, acetylene, and other gasses and oxy-acetylene cutting and welding equipment.
It was the leading company of its field and had links to Lee, Higginson & Co., the Chase Manhattan Bank, and the Guaranty Trust Co.
[6] They had two children: With the small fortune he made from his business interests, Adams maintained a house in New York City, a summer home on Campobello Island, and a plantation on the Cape Fear River.