Person Record

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1 of 1977 Quincy Adams Shaw

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Name

Shaw, Quincy Adams

Born

1897

Spouse

Augustine Van Wickle Shaw Toland

Children

Augustine "Dee" Pardee Shaw
Marjorie Pemberton Shaw Jeffries

Occupation

Deceased Date

1987

Notes

Quincy Adams Shaw, Augustine Van Wickle's husband, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1897, the only son of a prominent Boston family. His father was a wealthy art collector who donated a large collection of Millet paintings and Donatello marbles to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Quinny, as he was known by his family, attended Noble and Greenough School, one of America's top prep schools, and graduated from Harvard Engineering School with a degree in Mining Engineering. He married Augustine Van Wickle in 1919, and together they moved to Calumet, Michigan where Quincy began his career with the Calumet & Hecla Consolidated Copper Company. In 1929 he joined North American Mines, the mining firm which his father was instrumental in organizing at the turn of the century, and became president of that company in 1960.
Quincy and Augustine had two daughters, Augustine (always known as 'Dee') and Marjorie Shaw. They were Bessie McKee's only grandchildren. He led an active outdoor life - he excelled at sailing, skiing and duck hunting, and at Blithewold he played tennis and billiards with George Lyon.
In 1936, Quincy and Augustine were divorced. He remarried and had two more daughters.
Quincy regretted missing action in World War I, and was a Colonel in the Army Reserve for many years. When World War II broke out, he served on active duty as Lieutenant Colonel in the European Theater. He was awarded the Bronze Star and campaign stars for service in Normandy, the Rhineland, and Central Europe, and he accompanied General Eisenhower through Europe as a Colonel in Intelligence. In the Archives at Blithewold are copies of some of the many letters he sent to his family describing his experiences in the army. His family kept him supplied with regular shipments of Maltine, candy, nuts, figs, bouillon cubes, vitamins, and, most appreciated of all, the cigars which he loved. He wrote in his 50th anniversary Harvard class report:
I am convinced that the future of the world depends, above everything else, upon the preparedness and the military strength of the United States of America and its allies; and if we believe in the basic principles that have made America great, then we must be ready and willing to fight and die for our country.
Quincy Shaw died in Boston in 1987 at the age of ninety-one.

---- M Whitehead, Blithewold Curator, 2011