Quincy Adventures: Visiting the Adams National Historical Park

Tuesday was a beautiful day despite some light spotty shower activity in the late morning.  It was the perfect day to sample an area treasure, The Adams National Historical Park in Quincy,

Quincy Massachusetts a town of 93,000, is just ten minutes west of our summer "home" at Hingham Shipyard. It was named after John Adams' grandfather Colonel John Quincy in 1792.  We've been wanting to come here all summer.

The tour starts with a 26 minute movie at the Visitor center after which you board a trolley that takes you to two sites, the birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams (2nd and 6th Presidents of the United States) that sit side by side and then to Peace field, the home he returned to after years abroad representing the colonies during the revolution and then the United States as minister plenipotentiary.

Explanatory Note: The sign below shows "Peace field" as the name of the Adams' home at 135 Adams Street.  Wikipedia shows the name a "Peacefield" while other references show it as Peace Field.  I suspect that the National Park Service carefully researched the name's format before commissionng the sign and printing their literature, all of which shows the name as "Peace field." Note: The home is also known as "old House."

This fascinating wall shows the Adams family history in context with US history 

Diana and the park ranger in front of John Adam's birthplace
The 133 Franklin Street house was build in 1650

Birthplace of John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States
The 141 Franklin Street house was build in 1663 

John and Abigail Adams returned to their new home, Peace field in 1788
This house was built in 1731.  135 Adams Street

Diana in the garden at Peace field

Lester

The main house and library

John Adams Library

Park Ranger Bob conducted a fascinating tour of Peace field and the library

Four generations of Adams served the United States over a period of 150 years and all are associated with the Quincy properties:

• John Adams 1797-1801, 2nd President of the United States
• John Quincy Adams 1767-1848, 6th President of the United States
• Charles Francis Adams 1907-1886, US Minister at London
• Henry Adams 1838-1918, Historian
• Brooks Adams 1848-1927, Historian

While I am tempted to recount the story, it's so rich that to do it justice would require writing a Wikipedia article.  If you are interested here's the link.

Instead I will only speak to a few key points that stood out for me.

John Adams was an important part of American history.  He was part of the Committee of Five that wrote the Declaration of Independence and is one of its signers.  He served with Thomas Jefferson in France during the revolution and successfully raised large sums of money for the fledgling country. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783) with the British that ended the Revolutionary War.  He wrote the Massachusetts Constitution that later served as a model for the US Constitution.  He was the first Vice President of the United Stated and our second President.  He was defeated by Thomas Jefferson in 1801 after one term.

Treaty of Paris 1783 (painting by Benjamin West)
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are seated in the center
Seated are the US envoys John Jay, John Adama, Ben Franklin, Henry Laurens and William Templeton Franklin
The artist left the right side unpainted when the British envoys refused to sit for the painting

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were close friends and served together in France during the Revolutionary War.  They were signers to the Treaty of Paris that ended the war.  They then served together with Adams as President and Jefferson as Vice President during a period of US history when presidents were elected by the Electoral College.  The winner, Adams, became president and the runner up, Jefferson, became Vice President.  During this period their friendship deteriorated which may well have been due to their different political views,  Adams was a Federalist who believed in a strong central government while Jefferson, from Virginia, a slave state, was a Republican who believed strongly in States Rights and wanted a weak central government.  The result was that after serving together they never spoke again.  However, years later, Adams wrote to Jefferson and over a period of 13 years leading to both of their deaths the two corresponded and through that renewed their friendship.  Adams' last words at his death on July 4, 1826 (age 91) was "It's a good day.  It's a great day and "Jefferson survives."  Unbeknown st to him Jefferson had died the same day - exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

John Quincy Adams, his son, accompanied John Adam to France and the Netherlands during the Revolutionary War.  John Quincy's public service is also extraordinary.  He served as Minister to the Court of Saint James, Minister to Russia, Minister to Prussia, Minister to the Netherlands, our 8th Secretary of State, 6th President of the United States (1825-1829), United States Senator (1803-1808) and United States Representative (1831 - 1848).  He holds the distinction of being the only US President to serve in the House of Representatives after serving as President.

The two hours we spent on the tour of the three homes and Presidential Library was like a US history lesson on steroids.  I came away with a greater understanding of our history after seeing it from the perspective of this unique family's accomplishments..

Written by Les.