9781598534658 abigail adams letters 791215 · to john adams, september 20, 1776 “domestick...

xiii

Contents

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE, 1763–1773

To Isaac Smith Jr., March 16, 1763“No small pleasure” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

To John Adams, August 11, 1763“A tye more binding” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

To John Adams, September 12, 1763“Cast in the same mould” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

To Cotton Tufts, April 2, 1764Smallpox Inoculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

To John Adams, April 7, 1764“Follow his prescriptions” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

To John Adams, April 16, 1764“Shall not I make my Letters very cheep” . . . . . . . . . . 8

To John Adams, April 19–20, 1764“Thou hast the curiosity of a Girl” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

To John Adams, May 9, 1764Welcome Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

To John Adams, October 4, 1764“You may take me” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

To Hannah Storer Green, post July 14, 1765“Your Diana become a Mamma” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

To Mary Smith Cranch, January 31, 1767Domesticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

To John Adams, September 13, 1767“Come pappa come home” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

To Isaac Smith Jr., April 20, 1771“Women . . . inherit an Eaquel Share of curiosity” . . . . 17

To Mercy Otis Warren, July 16, 1773“Requesting a correspondence” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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xiv CONteNtS

REVOLUTION, 1773–1777

To Mercy Otis Warren, December 5–11, 1773“Tea that bainfull weed” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

To John Adams, December 30, 1773“How many snow banks devide thee and me” . . . . . . 27

To Mercy Otis Warren, c. February 25, 1774“So many terrors” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

To John Adams, August 19, 1774Rollin’s Ancient History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

To John Adams, September 14–16, 1774“A little clashing of parties” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

To John Adams, October 16, 1774“If the Sword be drawn” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

To Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay, November–December 1774“The cause of America” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

To Mercy Otis Warren, c. February 3, 1775“The die is cast” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

To Mercy Otis Warren, May 2, 1775“We have had several allarms” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

To John Adams, May 24, 1775Siege of Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

To John Adams, June 18–20, 1775The Battle of Bunker Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

To John Adams, June 25, 1775“Continual Expectation of Hostilities” . . . . . . . . . . . 49

To John Adams, July 5, 1775“Danger they say makes people valient” . . . . . . . . . . . 52

To John Adams, July 12, 1775The Hayden Affair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

To John Adams, July 16, 1775Meeting General Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

To John Adams, August 10–11, 1775Death of John’s Brother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63


CONteNtS xv

To John Adams, September 8–10, 1775“Our House is an hospital”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

To John Adams, September 17, 1775“In Weymouth it is very sickly” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

To John Adams, September 25, 1775“A heavy Heart” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

To John Adams, October 1, 1775Death of Abigail’s Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

To John Adams, October 9, 1775“The keen Edg of Sorrow” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

To John Adams, October 21, 1775“The sickness has abated” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

To John Adams, November 5, 1775Benjamin Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

To John Adams, November 27, 1775A New Form of Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

To Mercy Otis Warren, January 1776“A most painfull Seperation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

To John Adams, March 2–10, 1776Fortification of Dorchester Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

To John Adams, March 16–18, 1776End of the Siege of Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

To John Adams, March 31–April 5, 1776“Remember the Ladies” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

To Mercy Otis Warren, April 27, 1776“A List of Female Grievances” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

To John Adams, June 17, 1776Visit to a Warship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

To John Adams, July 13–14, 1776The Declaration of Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

To John Adams, July 21–22, 1776The Declaration Read in Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

To John Adams, August 14, 1776“God Bless the united States of America” . . . . . . . . . 104


xvi CONteNtS

To John Adams, August 31–September 2, 1776Safely Inoculated for Smallpox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

To John Adams, September 20, 1776“Domestick affairs require your presence” . . . . . . . . . 107

To John Adams, September 23, 1776“My Pen is my only pleasure” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

To Mercy Otis Warren, January 1777Generals Lee and Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

To John Adams, March 8–10, 1777Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

To John Adams, April 17, 1777“Mar, I never saw any body grow so fat” . . . . . . . . . . 115

To John Adams, May 6–9, 1777Counterfeit Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

To John Adams, June 15, 1777Fearing an Attack on Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

To John Adams, July 9, 1777Fears for a Stillbirth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

To John Adams, July 10–11, 1777Beginning of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

To John Adams, July 16, 1777“Numberd with its ancestors” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

To Mercy Otis Warren, August 14–16, 1777“Were I a man I must be in the Feild” . . . . . . . . . . . 125

To John Adams, October 25, 1777British Surrender at Saratoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

To James Lovell, c. December 15, 1777Commissioner to France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

THE YEARS ABROAD, 1778–1788

To Hannah Quincy Lincoln Storer, c. March 1, 1778“I consented to the Seperation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

To John Adams, March 8, 1778“I have travelled with you” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134


CONteNtS xvii

To John Adams, May 18, 1778“Difficult as the Day is” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

To John Quincy Adams, June 10, 1778First Letter to Her Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

To James Lovell, June 12, 1778Fear That John Was Captured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

To John Adams, c. July 15, 1778Renting Out the Farm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

To John Thaxter Jr., September 2–3, 1778“I hear the alarm Guns fired” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

To John Quincy Adams, September 29, 1778“Write me a Letter en Francois” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

To James Lovell, February–March 1779“The Freedom I take in Scribling” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

To Abigail Adams 2nd, c. February 11, 1779“Letters . . . from your papa” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

To John Adams, June 8, 1779Conditions at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

To James Lovell, June 18–26, 1779“I am not in a very good humour” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

To John Adams, November 14, 1779John Leaves for France Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

To James Lovell, November 18, 1779“Why was I born with so much sensibility” . . . . . . . . 159

To James Lovell, December 13, 1779“Any important and interesting matters” . . . . . . . . . 160

To John Lowell, December 27, 1779“My wants are circumscribed” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

To John Quincy Adams, January 19, 1780“Times in which a Genious would wish to live” . . . . . 162

To Charles Adams, January 19, 1780“Make yourself Master of what you undertake” . . . . . 164


xviii CONteNtS

To Mercy Otis Warren, February 28, 1780Lord Chesterfield’s Letters to His Son . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

To Elbridge Gerry, March 13, 1780“Not without honour save in his own country” . . . . . 168

To John Quincy Adams, March 20–May 8, 1780“The Subject of Self-knowledge” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

To John Adams, April 15, 1780Importation Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

To John Adams, June 13, 1780Death of Sister-in-Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

To John Adams, October 8, 1780“Could you bring the olive Branch” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

To John Adams, November 13–24, 1780Minister to the Dutch Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

To John Adams, January 15, 1781“The infamous Arnold” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

To John Quincy Adams, January 21, 1781“You must not be a superficial observer” . . . . . . . . . . 189

To John Quincy Adams and Charles Adams, February 8, 1781“Have you learned to skate finely?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

To John Adams, April 23, 1781“Our own American affairs” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

To James Lovell, May 10, 1781Stolen Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

To Charles Adams, May 26, 1781“You will be spoilt” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

To John Quincy Adams, May 26, 1781On Studying History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

To John Adams, May 27, 1781Dr. Thomas Welsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

To James Lovell, July 14, 1781“We will begin a New Score” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199


CONteNtS xix

To Elbridge Gerry, July 20, 1781A Friend in Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

To John Adams, August 1, 1781“Falsehood and fraud” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

To James Lovell, c. September 26, 1781“Necessary to keep a Watchfull Eye over you” . . . . . . . 207

To John Adams, September 29, 1781John Quincy and Charles Leave Their Father . . . . . . 209

To John Adams, December 9, 1781“My list of Grievences” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

To James Lovell, January 8, 1782“Shall . . . Slander impeach and abuse” . . . . . . . . . 215

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, February–March 1782Charles Arrives Safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

To John Adams, April 10, 1782John Sick in Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

To John Adams, July 17–18, 1782“Reduced my purse pretty low” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

To John Adams, September 5, 1782Request to Join John in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

To John Adams, October 8, 1782“Permit me . . . to renew that Companionship” . . . 230

To John Adams, October 25, 1782An Anniversary Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

To John Quincy Adams, November 13, 1782“You have been a great traveller” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

To John Adams, December 23, 1782Royall Tyler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

To John Adams, April 7, 1783“They submit to my prohibition” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

To Royall Tyler, June 14, 1783“Hints . . . which might Serve your interest” . . . . . 245


xx CONteNtS

To John Adams, June 20, 1783“I do not wish you to accept an Embassy” . . . . . . . . . 247

To John Adams, September 20, 1783Death of Abigail’s Father, William Smith . . . . . . . . . 252

To John Adams, October 19, 1783“No Courtship subsists” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

To John Quincy Adams, November 20, 1783“After two years silence” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

To John Adams, December 15, 1783“Your pressing invitation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

To John Quincy Adams, December 26, 1783Observations on Governments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

To John Adams, January 3, 1784Preparations to Sail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

To John Adams, February 11, 1784“You call me to follow you” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

To John Adams, May 25, 1784“I . . . have engaged My passage” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

To Mary Smith Cranch, July 6–30, 1784Ship Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

To John Adams, July 23, 1784Landed in England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, July 28–30, 1784London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

To John Adams, July 30, 1784Reunited with John Quincy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

To Elizabeth Cranch, September 5, 1784Auteuil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

To Lucy Cranch, September 5, 1784Paris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

To Mary Smith Cranch, September 5, 1784Housekeeping in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315


CONteNtS xxi

To Elizabeth Cranch, December 3–13, 1784Official Dinners and Hairdressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, December 14, 1784“Paris is a Horrid dirty City” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

To Royall Tyler, January 4, 1785French Manners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, January 11, 1785Visit to an Orphanage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

To Cotton Tufts, April 26–May 10, 1785Commission to London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

To Mary Smith Cranch, c. May 5–10, 1785“Who should I have to Love me then?”. . . . . . . . . . . . 346

To Mercy Otis Warren, May 10, 1785Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

To Thomas Jefferson, June 6, 1785English Newspapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 24–28, 1785Presentation at Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, c. August 15, 1785“Polite circles are much alike” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

To Lucy Cranch, August 27, 1785Samuel Richardson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

To Elizabeth Cranch, September 2, 1785“I was one continued shudder” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

To Lucy Quincy Tufts, September 3, 1785Acrobatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

To John Quincy Adams, September 6, 1785“There are so many Bones of contention” . . . . . . . . . . 372

To Thomas Jefferson, October 7, 1785Purchasing Tablecloths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

To Charles Adams, c. February 16, 1786On Studying American History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378


xxii CONteNtS

To John Quincy Adams, February 16, 1786William Stephens Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

To Mary Smith Cranch, March 21, 1786Royall Tyler’s Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

To Elizabeth Cranch, April 2, 1786“Ladies Route” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

To Isaac Smith Sr., April 8, 1786Tribute for Barbary Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 13, 1786Abigail 2nd Is Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

To Thomas Jefferson, July 23, 1786“He has taken my daughter from me” . . . . . . . . . . . 398

To Mary Smith Cranch, September 12, 1786Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

To John Quincy Adams, November 28– December 3, 1786Shays’s Rebellion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

To John Adams, December 23, 1786“I think very often of your being alone” . . . . . . . . . . 407

To John Quincy Adams, January 17, 1787“Be attentive to excercise” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

To Mary Smith Cranch, January 20, 1787Bath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

To Thomas Jefferson, January 29, 1787“The Tumults in my Native state” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

To Thomas Boylston Adams, March 15, 1787“Join the military company” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

To Lucy Cranch, April 26–May 6, 1787“I am a Grandmamma!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw, May 2–6, 1787A Defence of the Constitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

To Thomas Jefferson, June 26, 1787Polly Jefferson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424


CONteNtS xxiii

To Thomas Jefferson, June 27, 1787Sally Hemings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

To Cotton Tufts, July 4, 1787Purchasing Peacefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

To Thomas Jefferson, July 6, 1787Polly Jefferson’s Travel Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

To Mary Smith Cranch, July 16, 1787“Neither be an Idle or a useless Spectator”. . . . . . . . . 429

To Thomas Jefferson, September 10, 1787“Sterling metal in the political crusible” . . . . . . . . . . 434

To Mary Smith Cranch, September 15, 1787South West England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

To Cotton Tufts, November 6, 1787Repairs to Peacefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

To Thomas Jefferson, December 5, 1787“Mrs A excepts green” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

To Mary Smith Cranch, February 10, 1788Death of Brother William Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

To Thomas Jefferson, February 21, 1788Taking Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

To John Adams, March 23, 1788The Constitution Is Ratified. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Diary of Her Return Voyage to America, March 30–May 1, 1788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

VICE PRESIDENT’S LADY, 1788–1796

To Abigail Adams Smith, July 7, 1788Return to Braintree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

To John Adams, December 3, 1788Birth of John Adams Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

To John Adams, December 15, 1788“All our votes . . . for vice President” . . . . . . . . . . . 460

To John Adams, May 1, 1789Inauguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462


xxiv CONteNtS

To John Adams, May 31, 1789Joining John in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 28, 1789Journey to New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

To Mary Smith Cranch, July 12, 1789Patronage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

To Mary Smith Cranch, August 9, 1789President Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

To Mary Smith Cranch, January 5–10, 1790“All distinction you know is unpopular” . . . . . . . . . . 477

To Cotton Tufts, May 30, 1790“Great anxiety for the Pressident” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

To John Quincy Adams, July 11, 1790Birthday Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

To Mary Smith Cranch, August 8, 1790Birth of Thomas Hollis Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

To John Quincy Adams, August 20, 1790Advice on Marrying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

To Mary Smith Cranch, August 29, 1790“Removal to Philadelphia” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

To Cotton Tufts, September 6, 1790Renting Peacefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

To John Quincy Adams, November 7, 1790“Common Fame reports that you are attachd” . . . . . 489

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 12–14, 1790“All my troubles” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

To Abigail Adams Smith, January 25, 1791Colonel Smith’s Absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

To Cotton Tufts, March 11, 1791Summer at Braintree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

To William Stephens Smith, March 16, 1791Appointment as Supervisor of Revenue . . . . . . . . . . . 497

To Martha Washington, June 29, 1791“Thank you . . . for your Friendly Letter” . . . . . . . . 498


CONteNtS xxv

To Mary Smith Cranch, October 30, 1791“The Bustle of Removal” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500

To John Quincy Adams, February 5, 1792The Smiths Move to England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

To Mary Smith Cranch, April 20, 1792“A devision of the . . . states” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

To John Adams, December 4, 1792Second Presidential Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

To Abigail Adams Smith, February 28, 1793Request to Move Nearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

To John Adams, November 28, 1793Yellow Fever Epidemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

To John Adams, December 28, 1793Citizen Genet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

To John Adams, December 31, 1793“I never can be an uninterested Spectator” . . . . . . . . 511

To John Adams, January 18, 1794Critiquing John Quincy’s Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

To Abigail Adams Smith, March 10, 1794“Be cautious of foreigners” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

To John Adams, March 26, 1794“My Buisness is much impeeded” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

To John Adams, April 18, 1794War with Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

To John Adams, May 27, 1794“I will not say that all my Geese are swan” . . . . . . . . 521

To John Adams, December 6, 1794“What I think of France” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

To John Adams, January 4, 1795“The Education of Females” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

To Thomas Boylston Adams, January 10, 1795Weddings and Romances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

To John Adams, January 16, 1795Naturalization Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527


xxvi CONteNtS

To Thomas Boylston Adams, February 11, 1795Thomas and John Quincy in Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

To Abigail Adams Smith, August 14, 1795“Separated from my children”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

To John Quincy Adams, September 15, 1795The Jay Treaty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

To John Quincy Adams, May 20, 1796John Quincy in Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

To John Quincy Adams, August 10, 1796On Delaying Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

To Thomas Boylston Adams, August 16, 1796“Hold Yourself free, for an American wife” . . . . . . . 542

To Thomas Boylston Adams, September 25, 1796Washington’s Farewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

To John Adams, December 7, 1796Third Presidential Election. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

To Elbridge Gerry, December 28, 1796“Mix commissiration with your congratulations” . . . 547

FIRST LADY, 1797–1801

To John Adams, January 1, 1797A Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

To John Adams, January 15, 1797“Mr Jeffersons Heart” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

To John Adams, January 28, 1797Colonel Smith’s Financial Speculation . . . . . . . . . . . 556

To Charles Adams, February 5, 1797The New Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

To John Adams, February 8, 1797The Announcement of Election Results . . . . . . . . . . . 561

To John Adams, February 13, 1797“Because his Face is Black” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

To Mercy Otis Warren, March 4, 1797“Offences will come” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564


CONteNtS xxvii

To John Adams, March 12, 1797On the Inaugural Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

To John Adams, April 17, 1797Joining John in Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

To John Adams, April 23, 1797Deaths of Mother-in-Law and Niece . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 16, 1797Joining the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 24, 1797“The unbecomeing . . . conduct of France” . . . . . . . 571

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 6–8, 1797“I expected to be vilified and abused” . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

To John Quincy Adams, June 15, 1797John Quincy Appointed Minister to Berlin . . . . . . . . 575

To John Quincy Adams, June 23–24, 1797Commission to France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

To Cotton Tufts, July 12, 1797Expectation of War with France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

To Mercy Otis Warren, October 1, 1797“Your kind invitation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

To Mary Smith Cranch, October 31, 1797John Quincy’s Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

To John Quincy Adams, November 3, 1797“I sincerely congratulate you” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

To Mary Smith Cranch, November 15, 1797Colonel Smith’s Absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

To Louisa Catherine Adams, November 24, 1797A New Daughter-in-Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

To Mary Smith Cranch, November 28, 1797Letters from Colonel Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

To Mary Smith Cranch, February 6, 1798Colonel Smith Returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593


xxviii CONteNtS

To William Smith, February 6, 1798Presidential Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

To Cotton Tufts, February 6, 1798Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

To Mary Smith Cranch, February 15, 1798Celebration of Washington’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

To Mary Smith Cranch, March 5, 1798“Dispatches have arrived” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

To Mary Smith Cranch, March 14, 1798Fashion Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

To Mary Smith Cranch, March 20, 1798Publishing Dispatches from France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

To Mary Smith Cranch, March 27, 1798“Renewed insults” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

To John Quincy Adams, March 29, 1798“We hear nothing of our Envoys” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

To Thomas Boylston Adams, April 4, 1798Single Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

To Mary Smith Cranch, April 13, 1798“Sold to the French” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

To Esther Black, April 15, 1798Caring for an Orphan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

To Cotton Tufts, April 16, 1798Building a Library at Peacefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

To John Quincy Adams, April 21, 1798“The Hydra Monster of Jacobinism” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616

To Mary Smith Cranch, April 26, 1798Hail, Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 10, 1798“An incendary Letter” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 13, 1798“The President is most worn down” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

To Cotton Tufts, May 25, 1798Congress’s Summer Recess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625


CONteNtS xxix

To John Quincy Adams, May 26, 1798“A System of demoralizing the World” . . . . . . . . . . . 625

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 26, 1798“Proofs of a conspiracy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

To Thomas Welsh Jr., c. June 4, 1798A Secretary for John Quincy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 5, 1798Meetings with Talleyrand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

To John Quincy Adams, June 12, 1798John Quincy’s Investments Fail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

To Mary Smith Cranch, June 19, 1798“A Letter from Talleyrand” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, June 22, 1798“Mr. Gerrys remaining in France” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, July 7, 1798Medical Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

To Cotton Tufts, July 10, 1798General Washington Called Upon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

To Thomas Boylston Adams, July 20, 1798Preparing for War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

To John Quincy Adams, November 15, 1798Recovered from Illness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

To John Adams, November 29, 1798Thanksgiving Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648

To John Quincy Adams, December 2, 1798John Quincy’s Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

To John Adams, December 15, 1798“Living without Femals” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

To Thomas Boylston Adams, January 20, 1799Welcome Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

To John Adams, January 25, 1799“The integrity of Mr. Gerrys Heart” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

To John Quincy Adams, February 1, 1799“A Statement of this buisness” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656


xxx CONteNtS

To John Quincy Adams, February 10, 1799“I Blush for my Country!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659

To John Adams, February 27–28, 1799“They wisht the old woman had been there” . . . . . . . . 660

To John Quincy Adams, June 12, 1799“Our National affairs prosper” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, July 19, 1799Clothing Her Grandsons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664

To Mary Smith Cranch, October 31, 1799Fears for Louisa Catherine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 11, 1799Pickering Opposes Peace with France . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 22–23, 1799Death of George Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 30–31, 1799“The propriety of sending the Envoys” . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, January 19, 1800Presidential Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, February 4, 1800Fears for Her Grandchildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

To John Quincy Adams, April 27, 1800Sedition Indictments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679

To Cotton Tufts, April 30, 1800Home Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 3, 1800Leaving Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

To Abigail Adams Smith, May 4–5, 1800Hamilton’s “scheems” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685

To Abigail Adams Smith, May 12, 1800Changes to the Cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686

To John Quincy Adams, May 15, 1800“A Change in the Chief Majestracy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687


CONteNtS xxxi

To John Adams, May 19, 1800“I must recommend the Warm Bath” . . . . . . . . . . . . 690

To Mary Smith Cranch, May 26, 1800“Col. Smiths situation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, August 20, 1800Furnishing the President’s House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

To John Quincy Adams, September 1, 1800“I now advise you to return” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696

To William Stephens Smith, September 6, 1800Charles’s Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700

To Mary Smith Cranch, November 10, 1800Last Visit to Charles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701

To Mary Smith Cranch, November 21, 1800Journey to Washington, D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

To Abigail Adams Smith, November 21, 1800The New Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

To Sarah Smith Adams, December 8, 1800Death of Charles Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 8, 1800“Afflictions of this kind” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709

To Thomas Boylston Adams, December 13, 1800“We retire from public Life” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710

To Mary Smith Cranch, December 21–27, 1800Mount Vernon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

To Thomas Boylston Adams, December 25, 1800Appointments Under the New Presidency . . . . . . . . . 715

To Mary Smith Cranch, January 15, 1801“Of public Life he takes a final farewell” . . . . . . . . . 718

To John Quincy Adams, January 29, 1801Marshall Appointed Chief Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

To Mary Smith Cranch, February 7, 1801“He is not a believer in the Christian system” . . . . . . 724


xxxii CONteNtS

To John Adams, February 21, 1801Convention of 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

RETIREMENT, 1801–1818

To Thomas Boylston Adams, March 22, 1801“He knew not the Character, he thus abused” . . . . . . 731

To John Quincy Adams, May 30, 1801“A Spirit of party” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732

To John Quincy Adams, September 13, 1801John Quincy in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737

To Hannah Phillips Cushing, February 3, 1802Judiciary Act of 1802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738

To Thomas Boylston Adams, February 28, 1802“My pin money” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739

To Thomas Boylston Adams, December 13, 1802Rumors of Thomas Marrying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741

To Mercy Otis Warren, January 16, 1803“Private confidence has been betrayed” . . . . . . . . . . . 743

To Thomas Boylston Adams, April 26, 1803Financial Ruin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

To Thomas Boylston Adams, May 8, 1803“Your Brother is to Be the purchaser” . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

To Thomas Jefferson, May 20, 1804Death of Polly Jefferson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

To Thomas Jefferson, July 1, 1804James Callender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749

To Thomas Jefferson, August 18, 1804Rescinding John Quincy’s Appointment . . . . . . . . . . 752

To Thomas Jefferson, October 25, 1804Closing a Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755

To Louisa Catherine Adams, December 8, 1804John Quincy’s Health and Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . 757

To John Quincy Adams, December 18, 1804“You had an apparent Stiffness of temper” . . . . . . . . 759


CONteNtS xxxiii

To John Quincy Adams, December 30, 1804George Washington Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761

To John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams, November 29, 1805Grandsons George and John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

To Louisa Catherine Adams, January 19, 1806“Seperations of all kinds from Children” . . . . . . . . . . 764

To Louisa Catherine Adams, February 15, 1806Death of a Friend’s Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

To John Quincy Adams, March 5, 1806Francisco de Miranda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

To John Quincy Adams, March 24, 1806“Depends much upon his personal appearence” . . . . . 769

To Mercy Otis Warren, March 9, 1807“What does mr Adams think of Napolean?” . . . . . . . 770

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, June 10, 1807Family News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773

To John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams, October 25, 1807Grandsons Sent to School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

To Abigail Adams Smith, January 14, 1808“Your departure was so sudden” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777

To Louisa Catherine Adams, April 4, 1808Grandson William Smith’s Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778

To Caroline Amelia Smith, May 28, 1808“A novel called the Wild Irish Girl” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

To Abigail Adams Smith, June 19, 1808John Quincy Loses His Senate Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781

To Abigail Adams Smith, December 8, 1808“For having chosen an infidel president” . . . . . . . . . . 784

To Abigail Adams Smith, April 10, 1809John Abused in the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, June 5, 1809Education for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788


xxxiv CONteNtS

To Abigail Adams Smith, June 19, 1809Against Preserving Her Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, July 18, 1809John Quincy Appointed Minister to Russia . . . . . . . . 793

To John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, August 5, 1809John Quincy Sails for Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

To Mercy Otis Warren, December 31, 1809Mercy Otis Warren’s History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796

To Louisa Catherine Adams, January 12, 1810“Some of the flying reports of the day” . . . . . . . . . . . . 797

To Louisa Catherine Adams, March 6, 1810“Difficulties you will no doubt encounter” . . . . . . . . . 799

To James Madison, August 1, 1810Request to Recall John Quincy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, September 19, 1810Reception at the Russian Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802

To Susanna Boylston Adams, October 25, 1810“Your Grandfather misses your singing” . . . . . . . . . . 803

To John Quincy Adams, January 26, 1811Death of Louisa Catherine’s Sister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804

To John Quincy Adams, February 22, 1811Frequent Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

To Caroline Amelia Smith, February 26, 1811“Juno yet lives” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, February 28, 1811On Her Own Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810

To John Quincy Adams, March 4, 1811Appointment to the Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813

To Louisa Catherine Adams, March 4, 1811“Honorably back to his Native Country” . . . . . . . . . 815

To Abigail Adams Smith, March 10, 1811“A great Blessing to this Nation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817


CONteNtS xxxv

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, March 30, 1811Secretary of State Robert Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818

To Caroline Amelia Smith, April 18, 1811Family History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821

To Louisa Catherine Adams, April 28, 1811“A cancer in her Breast” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, July 10–11, 1811Abigail 2nd Consults Doctors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825

To Abigail Louisa Adams, July 23, 1811“Necessary . . . to procure you a living” . . . . . . . . . 827

To William Stephens Smith, July 23, 1811Opinion of the Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, July 31, 1811Louisa Catherine’s Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830

To William Stephens Smith, August 28, 1811Consulting with More Doctors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832

To Catherine Nuth Johnson, September 22, 1811John Quincy to Remain in Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834

To John Quincy Adams, September 24, 1811Sicknesses and Deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836

To Benjamin Rush, October 15, 1811“Submit to an operation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839

To William Cranch, October 17, 1811Death of Richard Cranch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, October 22, 1811Death of Mary Smith Cranch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, November 8, 1811Abigail 2nd’s Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

To John Quincy Adams, November 17, 1811Death of Catherine Nuth Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846

To John Adams 2nd, December 8, 1811“Your Sister was Baptized” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850

To Mercy Otis Warren, December 14, 1811“After Such an Operation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852


xxxvi CONteNtS

To John Quincy Adams, January 5, 1812Battle of Tippecanoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, July 17– August 4, 1812“Pheby is too infirm” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 856

To John Quincy Adams, July 29, 1812The War of 1812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857

To John Quincy Adams, December 30, 1812“We glory in our Infant Navy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859

To Louisa Catherine Adams, January 30, 1813Death of Baby Granddaughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862

To John Quincy Adams, February 25, 1813War News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863

To John Quincy Adams, April 23, 1813John Quincy to Negotiate Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865

To Mercy Otis Warren, June 20, 1813“I fear She will never again enjoy health” . . . . . . . . . 868

To John Quincy Adams, July 1, 1813Opinions of the War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869

To Louisa Catherine Adams, July 24, 1813“Great calls upon your fortitude” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873

To Lucy Cranch Greenleaf, c. July 1813“She is indeed a very sick woman” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875

To Mercy Otis Warren, August 8, 1813“A Schirrous Cancer Seated in the Breast” . . . . . . . . 875

To George Washington Adams and John Adams 2nd, August 15, 1813Death of Abigail 2nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877

To John Quincy Adams, August 30, 1813Obituary for Abigail 2nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877

To John Quincy Adams, September 13, 1813“A melancholy Letter” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881

To Thomas Jefferson, September 20, 1813“You called upon me to talk of myself” . . . . . . . . . . . 883


CONteNtS xxxvii

To François Adriaan van der Kemp, February 3, 1814“Your portrait of female excellence” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884

To John Quincy Adams, September 7, 1814The Burning of Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885

To John Quincy Adams, October 18, 1814“I See not any chance for peace” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887

To Caroline Smith De Windt, October 23, 1814Death of Mercy Otis Warren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 890

To Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody, February 26, 1815Battle of New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891

To Thomas Baker Johnson, March 3, 1815Peace with Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893

To John Quincy Adams, March 8, 1815Minister to Great Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894

To Stephen Peabody, April 11, 1815Death of Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody . . . . . . . . . . 896

To Louisa Catherine Adams, April 14, 1815“I am left alone” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897

To Louisa Catherine Adams, May 9, 1815George and John Join Their Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899

To Dolley Madison, May 14, 1815Requested Appointment for Grandson . . . . . . . . . . . 902

To John Quincy Adams, May 20, 1815“This little history of their Characters” . . . . . . . . . . . 903

To François Adriaan van der Kemp, May 26, 1815“By way of amusement” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906

To Abigail Adams Shaw, June 6, 1815Gilbert Stuart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908

To Louisa Catherine Adams, September 2, 1815English Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910

To John Quincy Adams, December 2, 1815“Mr Munroe will be our next president” . . . . . . . . . . 911

To John Quincy Adams, December 24, 1815Death of Cotton Tufts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913


xxxviii CONteNtS

Will of Abigail Adams, January 18, 1816. . . . . . . . . . . . . 914

To John Quincy Adams, February 10, 1816Portraits by Stuart and Morse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917

To Richard Rush, February 26, 1816“How inadequate the Sallery was” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919

To Louisa Catherine Adams, March 20, 1816“We jointly advised her” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921

To Charles Francis Adams, March 28, 1816Learning Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924

To John Quincy Adams, May 5–9, 1816Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924

To John Adams 2nd, May 21, 1816Marriage of Susanna Boylston Adams . . . . . . . . . . . 927

To John Quincy Adams, June 29, 1816Death of William Stephens Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929

To John Quincy Adams, December 5, 1816John Quincy Appointed Secretary of State . . . . . . . . . 932

To Thomas Jefferson, December 15, 1816Antoine Destutt de Tracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933

To Richard Rush, March 24, 1817“An increase of the Sallery” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934

To William Cranch, March 26, 1817Seeking an Appointment for a Grandson . . . . . . . . . 935

To Thomas Jefferson, April 29, 1817“One of your tormentors?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935

To John Quincy Adams, August 10, 1817John Quincy in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936

To Harriet Welsh, August 18, 1817John Quincy Arrives Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937

To Harriet Welsh, October 1, 1817Death of Thomas Greenleaf Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938

To Julia Stockton Rush, October 15, 1817“No Small personal gratification” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940


CONteNtS xxxix

To Harriet Welsh, December 1, 1817“I am Aged wrinkled & decayed” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941

To Louisa Catherine Adams, December 12, 1817Family News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 942

To John Quincy Adams, December 14, 1817Stuart’s Portrait of Abigail 2nd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945

To Harriet Welsh, December 31, 1817“A record of presidential ceremony” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946

To François Adriaan van der Kemp, January 24, 1818“Letters of mine to publish?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 948

To Harriet Welsh, January 24, 1818“I have not any ambition to appear in print” . . . . . 949

To Louisa Catherine Adams, February 27, 1818“The point of Ettiquette” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950

To Caroline Smith De Windt, March 22, 1818“A sweeter incense” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952

To John Quincy Adams, June 23, 1818“Speak to the Secretary of the Navy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954

To Louisa Catherine Adams, August 21, 1818“I wish you to come” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954

Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 959

List of Correspondents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985

Note on the Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1150


9781598534658 abigail adams letters 791215 · to john adams, september 20, 1776 “domestick...

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