The Homes of John Adams, Quincy, Massachusetts! Honoring a GREAT AMERICAN

In Quincy, Massachusetts, I visited the homes of one of the greatest Americans ever to live, The 2nd President of the United States, 1st Vice President, 1st Minister of the United States to England and the Netherlands, a member of the Continental Congress, and the man almost single-handedly responsible for the checks and balances structure of our government, Mr. John Adams. Born on October 19th, 1735, he was the son of Deacon John Adams, of Braintree, Massachusetts. He grew up on his family farm, and was educated from a young age. At age 16, Adams earned a scholarship to attend Harvard University. After graduating in 1755, at age 20 he studied law in the office of James Putnam, a prominent lawyer, despite his father's wish for him to enter the ministry. In 1758, he earned a master's degree from Harvard and was admitted to the bar. He married Abigail Smith in 1764. From 1774-1777, he served as a delegate from Massachusetts in the Continental Congress, where he held numerous roles, like being head of the board of war, and of course, part of the three man committee (along with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) that drafted the Declaration of Independence. In 1776, in his essay "Thoughts on Government" he outlined a gubernatorial structure of a republican system of government, citing the need for checks and balances, creating two legislative houses, and independent executive and judicial branches, outlining their functions briefly. This work nearly single handedly shaped the structure of American Government that was established following the revolution, and is still in place today. The house house of his birth, built in 1722 by his father Deacon John, is a ​2 1⁄2 story wood frame structure, sheathed in wooden clapboards. There are two main rooms, one on either side of a central chimney, on each of the two floors, and there are two further rooms in the lean to section on the first floor. The land on which the house sits was first owned by William Needham, who built a house on the property c. 1650. According to dendrochronological analysis, "the front part of the (present) house was built in 1722, or shortly thereafter by Deacon John Adams. President John Adams refers to the fact that his father built the house in a letter Dr. Benjamin Rush of July 19, 1812. The framing of the east side incorporates a number of reused timbers dating to the 1670s. John, the oldest son of Deacon John, was born in the east room on October 19, 1735. Upon the Deacon's death in 1761, the house passed to his second son, Peter; the younger John received the house next door, where John Quincy Adams was born to John and Abigail Adams in 1767. Peter lived in the house with his mother until 1768, when he married. In 1774 he sold the house to his brother John, who rented it out after their mother died in 1780. In 1803 John sold both houses to his son, who lived in the house of his birth, and rented this one out. The second home, was bought by his father in 1744, and dates to 1717. It is also a 2 and a half story saltbox. This home is where John and Abigail raised their children. John inherited the home from his father after his death in 1761, and the young couple moved into the home after their marriage in 1764. John Quincy Adams, his son, and the 6th President of the United States lived in the home after his parents departure in 1787, and rented the neighboring home (of his father's childhood, to Tennent Farmers). Both houses remained in Adams family ownership, and were rented out until 1885, when most of the surrounding farmland was sold off. The final home is the manor in which John and Abigail spent their retirement years, beginning in 1788. Known as Peacefield, the home is immaculate. The oldest portion of the house was built in 1731 by Leonard Vassall, a sugar-planter from Jamaica, and acquired by John and Abigail Adams in 1787 after its loyalist owners had abandoned Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War. The Adams were at that time still resident in London, but returned in 1788 to occupy the house and its 40 acres of farmland and orchards. During the subsequent 12 years, with Adams resident in Philadelphia first as Vice President and then as President, Abigail Adams attended to the house and farm. She greatly expanded it, adding what is now the right side of the front facade, with a fine hallway and large parlor on the ground floor and a large study above. The additions were built in the Georgian style with a gambrel roof creating a nearly full attic story. Adams returned to the house full-time in 1801 after his defeat for a second presidential term. His son The Adams family donated the house to the U.S. in 1946, and it is now preserved for all to enjoy.