Abigail: Third Generation

Abigail Smith Adams, born in 1744, was already the third generation born in Massachusetts Bay. If her forebears didn’t come on the Mayflower, they surely followed along on some later “midsummer flower.” They were all Englishmen (and women) of substance, numbering the ubiquitous clergy, lawyers and pillars of society. 

Abigail’s mother was a Quincy, a name that ranked highly then, and even today, in Massachusetts history. Elizabeth Quincy was a proud woman, who never forgot (or let her children forget) their Puritan heritage and stock. Her father had been the illustrious John Quincy, a Speaker of Massachusetts House of Representatives. Her cousin Dorothy became the wife of John Hancock, making Abigail a relative-by-marriage to the “first signer.” 

Abigail’s father was the Reverend William Smith (in a family peppered and confused with William Smiths), and at the time he preached, their Protestant sect was termed the Congregationalists. Rev. Smith was (according to his wife), a step or two below the Quincys in pedigree, but he was well educated and well regarded, with an active congregation. Interestingly enough, he was perceived to be a liberal minister, stressing reason and morality, place and perseverance, as opposed to the fire-and-brimstone pastors of an earlier generation. 

Abigail was the second of four siblings. Her sister Mary was elder, her brother another William, and her sister Elizabeth followed. It was a traditional family for its time, with one exception: while their son was tutored as he grew up, and was later sent to appropriate higher learning, the daughters, while home-schooled by their mother, had access to their father’s substantial library. They learned to read, and read they did.

Educating Abby

Abigail Smith was a sickly child. Exactly what her illness(es) were is difficult to determine, but suffice it to say that her health would always be compromised, and she would be subject to recurrent fevers and agues, but had a quick and curious mind.

In addition to her father’s excellent library, she also had access to her grandfather’s and uncle’s libraries, and in addition to the usual female reading-writing-ciphering, she learned Latin, some Greek, read poetry and Plutarch’s Lives, Shakespeare’s plays, and volumes on decidedly “unfeminine” subjects: philosophy, economics, politics and polemics. 

John Adams, Visitor

Nine years older than Abigail, John Adams first visited the Smiths as a young schoolteacher-lawyer, along with his friend Richard Cranch, soon to be affianced to the Smiths’ elder daughter Mary. The Reverend obliged with lodging and perhaps supper, and found young Mr. Adams a congenial guest. He suggested that whenever he was passing through Weymouth, he should stay with them. John took him at his word.

It is noted that in his first diary entry that mentions Abigail, JA remarked that the 14-year-old girl “had wit.” One story tells of her reading in a quiet corner when John Adams, then a frequent visitor to the Smith house, asked what she was reading. He was surprised to learn that she was engrossed by the speeches of Edmund Burke. 

But while he always found her company enjoyable and interesting, their courtship did not begin in earnest for a few years – when Abby was of marriageable age. And he adored her.

The somewhat pretentious Elizabeth Quincy Smith was none too pleased by her future son-in-law’s plain “farmer” antecedents, but the Reverend Smith was supportive enough, and officiated at the ceremony. 

John Adams and Abigail Smith 

John Adams (1735-1826) seldom receives sufficient credit for helping his wife evolve into the remarkable woman she became. If he had been “traditional,” in the sense that his wife’s place was completely domestic, it is not unlikely she would have followed that path with little objection other than some internal angst. 

As it was, they had four surviving children in the first ten years of their marriage, and ping-ponged between their small house in Braintree and a rented house in Boston, closer to John’s law opportunities. She did her own housework, with little more than a day-girl from time to time. She cooked, washed dishes, did laundry and taught the children their basic lessons.

But John was not the traditional male. He appreciated a good mind where he found it, and if it was in the body of a woman, sobeit. He discussed his work with her, sought her advice and input, and valued the responses he received. Their marriage was a true partnership from the start, and both partners esteemed the influences of the other. It was also a deep and abiding love match. He was quick to publicly commend his wife’s abilities to all he encountered, including the cream of Colonial politicians via the Continental Congress. Forty years later, as President of the United States, she was the “best, dearest, worthiest, wisest friend in this World.”

Mrs. A. in Charge

Practically from the outset of their marriage, Abigail learned to function on her own, as it were. John traveled a lot for his law practice, albeit not terribly far. Nevertheless, 20 miles was still an overnighter. He was often gone for days at a time.

But when John was elected to represent Massachusetts in the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, everything changed. John was now gone for weeks and months at a time, leaving everything in the care of his wife. No other “man in the family” was put in charge, as would have been conventional in the 1770s. He appreciated her abilities as a good manager and businesswoman and wrote, “I know not what would become of me and mine, if I had not such a Friend to take Care of my Interests in my Absence.”

Not that Abigail would have wanted anything else (other than perhaps his presence.) She was fully capable to manage the house, the farm, the children – including their health and education, the family budget (never robust), the news of family – and politics, and most of all, the constant communication with her “dearest friend.”

Sources:

Abrams, Jeanne E. – First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role – NYU Press, 2018

Ellis, Joseph – First Family: John and Abigail Adams – Alfred A. Knopf, 2010

Gelles, Edith B. – Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage – Wm. Morrow, 2009

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/letters-abigail-and-john-adams-show-their-mutual-respect-180962347/

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/abigail-adams