Abigail Smith Adams was born in Massachusetts in 1744. She was the second of four children. Her father was a Congregational minister. Her mother was a member of the prominent Quincy family. The Smiths and Quincys were wellknown families in the Massachusetts colony. Important people often came to their home. As a young girl, Abigail would sit and listen to them during their visits. Although she did not attend school, Abigail was educated at home. Even as a young girl she would spend time reading in her father’s library. Everyone recognized that she was a very intelligent girl.
She was introduced to John Adams, a lawyer from Braintree, Massachusetts. They wrote letters to one another while they were dating. Over the years of courtship and marriage they wrote over a thousand letters to one another. These letters were saved and can be read today. Long after they were married she would address many letters to her husband as “Dearest Friend” or “My Dearest of Friends”. When Abigail decided to marry John, her parents were not happy. Her mother wanted her to marry someone with money and an important social position. Abigail was determined and finally convinced her parents to agree to the marriage. Her father married them at his church on October 26, 1764. At the ceremony Rev.
Smith read a passage from the Book of Luke in the Bible, “John came neither eating bread nor drinking wine and some say he has a devil in him.” The wedding guests all laughed at the chosen passage because they knew that Rev. Smith had not originally approved of the marriage. During the first ten years of their marriage Abigail gave birth to five children, two daughters and three sons. One of her daughters died as a child. Her oldest son, John Quincy Adams, became the sixth President of the United States. In 1774 John Adams was selected to be a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Abigail stayed at home in Braintree to raise the children and care for the family farm. Adams returned home for a short time and was again sent to Philadelphia to represent Massachusetts at the Second Continental Congress in 1775. During his absence Abigail wrote letters to her husband about the health of the children. She would give him information on events in Massachusetts and advise him on important matters. Abigail Adams was a strong supporter of independence even before the Declaration of Independence was written. One Sunday the pastor of her church preached a sermon calling for the colonies to settle differences with England. She wrote of the sermon to her husband saying that she could not agree. She said, “Let us separate; they are unworthy to be our brethren. Let us renounce them.” When her husband wrote that the Second Continental Congress would consider independence, she wrote back saying that these men must “Rememer the Ladies.” She continued to write to Adams in Philadelphia on behalf of women. She wrote that women should not be expected to obey any new laws that would be written if women had no voice in writing these laws. During the war she kept the farm going while she cared for the children. She opened her home to the homeless and gave part of the little food she had to the poor. She was constantly busy caring for the children, spinning cloth, making bandages for the wounded, and managing the farm. She even found time to teach herself French from books.
John Adams was chosen by Congress to go to Europe during the war to seek help. He thought of taking his wife and family with him but decided that it was too dangerous. He did take their oldest son, John Quincy. After returning home for a short period of time, he was sent back to Europe this time to meet with the British to try to work out a peace treaty to end the war. After a peace treaty was signed, John Adams sent for his wife to join him. Mrs. Adams and her daughter sailed for Europe in 1784. She had not seen her son John Quincy for six years.
The family returned to America in 1788 and the next year her husband was elected Vice President of the United States. The Adamses lived in New York, the nation’s first capital and in Philadelphia when the capital was moved there. However, Mrs. Adams always considered Braintree their home.
John Adams was elected President of the United States in 1796. He took office in March 1797 in Philadelphia. During his four years as president, Mrs. Adams continued to advise him on issues. Some of the president’s enemies even accused Abigail Adams of not knowing her place in society. They said that she should not be interested in politics and should spend her time doing things suitable for women!
This did not stop her from continuing to advise the president. During the last years of George Washington’s presidency a new capital city was being built. The capital was not completely finished when the government moved to the new city named for George Washington. President Adams had lost the election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson who would become President in March 1801. Adams was still president when the capital was moved to the new city. Mrs. Adams moved the family into the President’s House that was later called the “White House.” During the short time they lived in the White House, Mrs.
Adams tried her best to make it livable. Nothing seemed to work in the big house and it was impossible to keep it warm. She complained about it to her daughter but did not want others to know how she felt. She was happy to return to Braintree, Massachusetts, when Thomas Jefferson moved into the White House.
She lived happily for the next 17 years in the family home and took great pride in her son John Quincy Adams’ interest in politics. In 1814 she wrote to her granddaughter that the greatest unhappiness she had in her life were the long periods of separation from her husband during the Revolutionary War. She died on October 26, 1818 at theage of 75.