Adams Family Correspondence, volume 15
I received this morning your letter of the 4th: instt: which gave me pleasure as containing the
information of the children’s health; and sorrow by that of your own indisposition—1 The remainder of the letter was equally
painful and unexpected to me— Our separation was very much against my inclination; but
it was your own choice, and it has been my unvaried principle, and I hope will always be
so, to leave the place of your own residence, entirely at your own election— Thinking as
I do that my home, is the proper and only proper home of my wife and children, I shall
always feel the sweetest satisfaction in having them with me; and shall ever lament your
determination to abide elsewhere— But wherever you yourself choose to dwell, I shall so
long as I have it in my power to support the expence comply with your desire— I never
can be happy, distant from you, and will never be so, when I can avoid it without
constraint upon your inclinations— Of coldness or unkindness to you, at any time, I am
not conscious— The first wish of my heart is to make you happy as far as it is in my
power, and it is a subject of deep affliction to me, that my means of accomplishing this
wish are not more adequate to its ardour and sincerity.— Your attachment to your own
family, is a sentiment so amiable in itself, that I can never disapprove it, and even
when it leads you to prefer separation from me rather than 356 separation from them, I acquiesce however reluctantly in your determination— But you
will be sensible that I have naturally the same sentiments of affection and respect on
my part, and I hope this will be my justification for remaining silent with respect to
some of the observations in your letter— The duties of filial, of conjugal and of
paternal tenderness are all equally sacred, and I wish to discharge them all with equal
fidelity.
I arrived here on Saturday morning— This is Monday, and tomorrow, I
expect to take my passage for Providence— From Baltimore to Philadelphia, we came the
greatest part of the way by water— The roads from Washington to Baltimore and from
Philadelphia here were very bad— I stop’d only one night at Philadelphia— I found Mr: Otis at Baltimore, and we came on as far as this together—
The same day we arrived here, a Packet sailed for Providence— Mr: Otis went in it, and I placed Patty under his protection— They had a fine
wind, and I believe are by this time at Providence— She was quite unwell on the road
from Philadelphia here, but got better, and appeared very glad to proceed immediately on
her way home—2
Mr: and Mrs: Payne are here, and had engaged their passage to Rhode-Island for to-morrow—
But yesterday morning, she made him a present of two boys, at seven months— The children
will probably not live, but she is as well as could be expected—3
My Sister and her children are well— Coll: Smith is confined to his chamber by a severe cold—
I have seen the Vice-President— It seems to be the prevailing opinion that he will be elected Governor of this State.4
Remember me affectionately to your mother, brothers and Sisters— My dear children; do not let them forget their father— And George, if he expects his drum must be a very good boy.
I enclose you a fifty dollar bill, from which Dr: Weems’s due may be discharged; I will send you some more
from Boston; as soon as I can.
Adieu, my dearest friend— May you never feel a pang imparted from your husband’s hand; and may his feelings of the warmest and tenderest affection, ever meet with equal and correspondent sentiments in return.
So prays he who is ever faithfully yours
RC (Adams
Papers); internal address: “Mrs: L. C. Adams.”;
endorsed: “J. Q. Adams Esqr. / Recd. April 14th.”
Not found.
JQA departed Washington, D.C., for Quincy on 2
April, leaving LCA and their children to stay with LCA’s
family in 357 Washington during the congressional recess.
LCA’s servant Patty Walin (also called Patty Milnor) traveled with
JQA, a departure LCA attributed to Walin’s winterlong
illness and her being “constantly in hysterics, because
she could not see her Sweetheart.” Leaving the capital at
six o’clock in the morning, the two traveled via stage and water to Philadelphia,
where they arrived on the 4th. The next day the travelers continued by stage to New
York City, pausing at Newark, N.J., due to Walin’s illness and arriving at
AA2’s Manhattan home on 7 April. Samuel Allyne Otis was traveling the
same route, and he and Walin departed for Boston by ship the same day.
JQA sailed for Providence, R.I., on 12 April, and arrived on the 13th.
The following day he took the mail stage to Boston, meeting JA in the
city and riding with him to Quincy that evening (D/JQA/27,
APM Reel 30; LCA, D&A
, 1:192, 193, 216).
William and Lucy Gray Dobell Payne were traveling from
Washington, D.C., to Boston when Lucy gave birth to twins Edward William (d. 1832) and
William Edward (d. 1838) in New York City on 8 April. William Edward Payne, Harvard
1824, was later CFA’s friend and legal associate in Boston (Whitmore, Families of
Payne and Gore
, p. 20–25; CFA, Diary
, 1:128, 4:311).
In late 1803 Thomas Jefferson informed Aaron Burr that he was
dropping Burr from the Democratic-Republican ticket in the 1804 presidential election,
prompting Burr to announce his candidacy for governor of New York on 18 Feb. 1804. A
group of New England Federalists—Timothy Pickering, William Plumer, James Hillhouse,
Uriah Tracy, and Roger Griswold—helped spur the decision. Reacting to
Democratic-Republicans energized by the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, the
Louisiana Purchase, and the impeachment of John Pickering, the group advocated for the
secession of New England and New York from the United States and the formation of an
independent confederation. The group saw as a first step Burr’s election as governor
because it would give them a Democratic-Republican ally who shared their distrust of
the Virginia branch of his party. Alexander Hamilton and Rufus King were among the
Federalists opposed to the plan, and Hamilton raised the rumored secession proposal in
campaign speeches against longtime rival Burr. JQA remained on the
sidelines of the debate, writing of his visit with Burr on 8 April 1804, “He says if
the Election were to be a fortnight later, he should probably succeed— Nothing could
have induced him to let his name be held up as a Candidate for the Office of Governor
of New-York, but the absolute necessity of interposing to save the Country from ruin
by these family combinations &c &c &c.” Hamilton’s opposition and the
failure of New York Federalists to support Burr led to his defeat by Morgan Lewis on
26 April. The loss effectively ended agitation for secession, and in reporting Burr’s
loss to LCA on 9 May (Adams
Papers), JQA wrote, “It seems the federalists and his partizans
could not cordially coalesce, and failed in giving each other the mutual assistance
upon which they depended” (Isenberg, Fallen Founder
, p. 252–256; Kevin M. Gannon,
“Escaping ‘Mr. Jefferson’s Plan of Destruction’: New England Federalists and the Idea
of a Northern Confederacy, 1803–1804,”
JER
, 21:418–429, 438–443 [Autumn 2001]; Hamilton, Papers
, 26:240; D/JQA/27, APM Reel 30; New York Commercial
Advertiser, 26 April; A New Nation
Votes).
th.1’80’4
When your Son delivered me your kind letter, little did I think,
it would be so long, before I should reply.1 But my youngest Girl went home the Saturday
after, & I have had a round of heavy cares upon me eversince. It was ten weeks
before we could get any other Girl, & in some of the worst cold weather, &
dreadful Storms which has proved quite too much for Lydia & me. But it could not
be helped. I find the exertions have worn upon both of us, though we should not 358 have felt fatigue so much if a number of our
Boarders had not been taken sick, several threatened with settled fevers, but by care
& attention at first, have happily excaped a long sickness— Abby, & I have
suffered from severe colds, & sore throats— Eliza Hayes had the canker in hers,
& I thought the others caught it from her— Miss Nabby Hayes has had an unsual
humour in her Ear.2 Nothing would give
her ease but poltices, which I applied two or three in a day, for more than a month,
with bathing every day, & you know what work it makes— But they are now both
almost well enough to return to Gloucester; they have sent to their Parents, & our
vacation commences the 20th of this month, which I hope
will afford me a days respite, I do not expect much more, for they are coming &
going the whole time.— I should not have given you this detail, but I thought you
would think me negligent, if you did not know how fully my time has been occupied;
& in bad weather when other families are retired, & have leisure, mine is the
most encumbered, & every energy of Soul, & Body is required to keep them
still, & improving in their respective Studies—
I do not know that I ever more sincerely rejoiced at the return
of the genial warmth of a new born Spring, than at the present moment— Though I feel
an alloy, when I consider, that it speedily brings on the day, when my Son must fix
upon some Spot, where he may be likely to obtain a livelihood— I wish that his path of
duty may appear plain. I know not how to be reconciled to his going at a great
distance from us, & one great Objection is, that those of my particular
acquaintance, who have gone have either lost their lives, or spent one, two, or more
years & then returned disgusted with the People, & dissapointed in all their
Expectations—3 But I know he must fix with a degree of energy,
hard as it may be, & I pray he may do what appears the most eligible—& then we
shall have no cause to repine, though he should not prosper— But he appears to me to
be so little calculated for the rough & thorny path of life, that I tremble for
him— Chesterfield’s maxim “sweetness in the manner, & firmness in the mind,” is
absolutely essential to gain the publick confidence.4 To do good, & to turn the follies, &
passions of mankind to our own advantage requires no small degree of knowledge of
human nature, & of virtue & integrity in our own hearts— I should have written
to him if I could found a Moments leisure— The experienced President, & you, will
please to give him your parental Counsel—
Your Son Thomas I trust will make an excellent Citizen, & his
facetious, engaging manners will ingratiate him; & he will gain the love, &
respect of his native Town,—I think he will be a Blessing to your declining years,
& smooth the pillow of age, & these are qualities, which every Child does not
possess— May he succeed in buisness, & prosper, for the happiness of my friend is with his,
intimately woven—
I was in hopes I should have heard from Quincy, I wish to hear
how your health is, & of that of your family, & of my Sisters, & her
Children— I have not heard a word of William Cranch & his family, since my dear
Sister communicated the melancholly account of their Sickness—5 How is Sister Smith, & Louisa—& Phebe,
I have thought of this long tedious winter— Mrs Foster I have repeatedly written to,
but she hates to write, as well as my William—& I cannot hear one word, so I hope
they are well— I am almost asleep. myself, & hope your repose will be refreshing, that you may awake with renewed strength, is
the wish of / Your affectionate Sister
I wish I could go to Boston & Quincy, but I know I cannot— I hope William has been wise enough to wear his Cotton Shirts— If I could get a good piece of linnen I would make it for him— If Dr Tufts would let him have sufficent to purchase him some, I should be glad, & Mr Locke would bring it, when he returns his Daughter—6 I should have sent some Stockings before, but I have been dissappointd in everything— My Son knows Who I mean by Mr Locke—he is a Merchant, & an excellent Man—
RC (Adams
Papers); addressed: “Mrs Adams / Quincy”; endorsed: “Mrs Peabody / April 16th / 1804.”
Not found.
Abigail (b. 1774) and Eliza Hayes (b. 1791) were the daughters of
Gloucester merchant James and Abigail Warner Hayes. Abigail Hayes was one of the first
women to serve as preceptor at Atkinson Academy (Vital Records
of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, 3 vols., Topsfield,
Mass., 1917, 1:349, 2:278; Boston Globe, 26 Nov. 1887;
Harriet Webster Marr, Atkinson Academy: The Early Years,
Springfield, Mass., 1940, p. 49).
William Smith Shaw remained in Boston, where he was admitted an
attorney to the Suffolk County Court of Common Pleas in April 1804 (Felt, Memorials of
William Smith Shaw
, p. 181–183, 186).
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, Letters Written by the Late Right Honourable Philip Dormer
Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to His Son, Philip Stanhope, 2 vols., London,
1774, 2:99.
In a 25 Feb. letter to Mary Smith Cranch (DLC:Shaw Family Papers), Peabody thanked her sister for her letter received “several weeks since” and lamented Cranch’s report of the “melancholy detail of the distresses of my dear Nephews Family,” for which see LCA to AA, 11 Feb., and note 2, above.
Possibly Boston fish merchant Joseph 360 Locke (1767–1838) and his stepdaughter, Anna
Maria Foster (ca. 1795–1868), who was the daughter of Locke’s second wife, Mary
Ingersoll Foster (John Goodwin Locke, Book of the Lockes: A
Genealogical and Historical Record of the Descendants of William Locke, of
Woburn, Boston, 1853, p. 47, 139; Carol Rinderknecht, A
Checklist of American Imprints, 1830–1839, Author Index, Metuchen, N.J., 1989,
p. 164).