Adin Ballou Underwood graduated from Brown University among the first in his class in 1849. He then pursued law at Harvard and was a successful lawyer in practice around Boston. However, when the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter at the start of Civil War, he quit his job and decided to dedicate himself to the war. 

Underwood raised a company in Newton that was mustered into service along with three other companies in May 1861, only about a month after the war began. Underwood was appointed Captain of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. Rising through the ranks, Underwood eventually became Brigadier General and participated in the brutal battle of Gettysburg, during which he was wounded. Disabled from further field duty, he was named Brevet Major General of U.S. Volunteers.

After the war, Underwood became head surveyor of the Port of Boston. He died in 1888. The Underwood Elementary School was one of 14 new school buildings constructed between 1921 and 1939 in response to the rapid population growth the city experienced. It is also a contributing building to the Farlow & Kenrick Parks National Historic District in Newton Corner.