John Adams

Basic Facts:
Birth: Oct 30, 1735 at Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts
Death: July 4, 1826 at Quincy, Mass
Married: Oct 25, 1764 to Abigail Smith (Nov 22, 1744-Oct 28, 1818)
Children: Six – Abigail; John Quincy; Charles; Thomas Boylston; Grace Susanna “Suky” born 1768, died 1770;, Elizabeth who was stillborn in 1777
President: One term beginning March 4, 1797

Quote: “No man who ever held the office of President would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.”

Family:

John and Abigail Adams married October 25, 1764. They were third cousins. Abigail’s mother opposed the marriage.
After his father’s death in 1761, Adams had inherited a 9 ½-acre (3.8 ha) farm and a house where they lived until 1783. John and Abigail had six children:

• Abigail “Nabby” Adams (1765-1813) She married Colonel William Stephens Smith in 1786; they had four children. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1810 and (according to Wikipedia) underwent a mastectomy without anesthesia. She died in 1813 at age 48.
• Future president, John Quincy Adams in 1767-1848,
• Susanna Adams in 1768, died in 1769
• Charles Adams(1770-1800); Adams married Sarah “Sally” Smith (1769–1828), the sister of his brother-in-law, William Stephens Smith. They had two daughters, Susanna Boylston (1796–1884) and Abigail Louisa Smith (1798–1836). According to Wikipedia: “Charles Adams was an alcoholic who engaged in extramarital relationships and made questionable financial decisions. He was disowned by his father and sometimes lived apart from his family.”
• Thomas Adams(1772-1832); Adams accompanied his brother John Quincy to the Netherlands and Prussia, serving as his secretary from 1794 to 1798. In 1805, he married Ann Harrod (1774–1845) and the relationship produced eight children in only eleven years. Adams served as his town’s representative to the Massachusetts legislature from 1805 to 1806. In 1811, he was appointed chief justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Southern Circuit of Massachusetts. Like his brother Charles, Thomas had problems with alcoholism. Adams died on March 13, 1832, deeply in debt.
• Elizabeth Adams in 1777-1777 (stillborn).

Other
John Adams began practicing law in 1758. He attended the Continental Congress of 1774-1777 as a delegate from Massachusetts. In 1779 he wrote the Massachusetts constitution. From 1778-1788 he was a U.S. diplomat in Europe. He became the first Vice-President, serving from 1789-1797. He was elected to one term in 1797, losing re-election in 1800 to Thomas Jefferson.

The Adams’ were the first residents of the White House. They moved in in November 1800 while the paint was still wet. Mrs. Adams would hang her laundry in the East Room to dry.

“I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”

The words are taken from a letter written to Abigail Adams from the President’s House by John Adams in 1800 and were engraved on the mantel in 1945 during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Adams was one of three presidents not to attend the inauguration of his successor. Not only was Adams disappointed in losing to Jefferson, he was also grieving the death of his son Charles.

Adams was the great-great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden, Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.

The only presidents to sign the Declaration of Independence. Adams and Jefferson both died on its 50th anniversary, July 4, 1826. Adams’ dying words were “Thomas Jefferson survives”. Jefferson, however, had passed on a few hours earlier.

John Adams is reported to have been 5’7″ tall, the same as his son, John Quincy Adams.

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Sources:

Internet Public Library
White House History.org
Whitney, David C. The American Presidents. Doubleday, 1969.
Greenman, Barbara. The Timeline History of U. S. Presidents and First Ladies. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, California, 2009.