JOHN ADAMS. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. John Adams, the second President of the United States, was the fourth in descent from Henry Adams, who fled from persecution in England, and settled in Massachusetts in the year 1630. He was born on the 19th of October, 1735, in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts, and in 1751, was admitted a member of Harvard College, graduating therefrom four years afterwards. He soon after commenced the study of law at Worcester, Massachusetts, supporting himself chiefly by teaching in one of the public schools of that town. He was admitted to the bar of Suffolk County in 1758, and in 1766, he removed to Boston, where he soon distinguished himself in his profession. In 1764, he married Abigail Smith, daughter of Rev. William Smith, of Weymouth, an educated lady, possessing superior intellectual faculties. Having filled many important offices, he was in 1777, appointed a commissioner to the Court of France, and in 1779, was appointed a Minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating a treaty of peace with Great Britain. In 1781, he was associated with Franklin, Jay, and others in a commission for concluding treaties of peace with the several European powers. In 1784, he was in Holland and France, negotiating commercial treaties with foreign nations. In 1785, he was appointed by Congress a Minister to represent the United States at the Court of Great Britain. He resigned in 1788, and in June returned to the United States, after an absence of over eight years. Ability, coupled with public honesty and private worth, constitute a man equal to any emergency, and fitted for any public position. Adams possessed this character, and these qualifications in an eminent degree. He was the man for the times; no purer patriot ever lived; he was the eloquent and fearless defender of the Declaration of Independence. He was a patriot and a scholar. He was elected to the Presidency as the successor of Washington after a close and spirited contest, in which his warm personal friend, Thomas Jefferson, was his principle rival. Mr. Jefferson was supported by the Democratic, then called the Republican party, and Mr. Adams by the Federal party. Mr. Jefferson was elected Vice-President. His inauguration took place in Congress Hall, Philadelphia, on the 4th of March, 1797, he being then in his sixty-second year. He served his term of four years, was again nominated, but defeated. After his term of service had expired, he retired to his estate at Quincy, Massachusetts, and passed the remainder of his days in literary and scientific pursuits. Having lived to the good old age of ninety-one years, he died on the 4th of July 1826. |