October 1, 2021 - John Adams's Houses

 

John Adams was a giant.  One of the Founding Fathers, he was right up there with the most prominent men of the age; men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

He was born and lived his whole life in a rural area seven miles south of Boston, a mile from the sea, then called Braintree, now Quincy.  The son of a New England farmer, John Adams was born "a five-room New England "salt box", the simplest, most commonplace kind of dwelling -- far left in the below sketch -- in 1735.  It had been built in 1681 and built strongly around a massive brick chimney.  Its timbers were of hand-hewn oak, its inner walls of brick, these finished on the inside with lath and plaster and faced on the exterior with pine clapboard."  -- David McCullough in "John Adams".

John and Abigail moved into an older companion house that stood 75 feet apart on the property after they were married.  (To the right of the salt house in the below sketch)  It was in this house a young John Adams and his bride Abigail started their family and the future President launched his career in law and then politics. John Adams maintained his law office in that house and it was there that he, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin wrote the Massachusetts Constitution. This document, still in use today, greatly influenced development of the United States Constitution.  His son, John Quincy Adams, a future President, was born in that house.

John Adams went to Harvard, but in those days it was an institution of four red-brick buildings, a small chapel, a faculty of seven, and an enrollment of approximately 100 scholars.
   
A look at the "Salt house" where John Adams was born.  It doesn't seem like an 18th-century house with what looks like aluminum siding on it.
   
As you can see, the John Adams houses are no longer in a rural area but sit alongside a major thoroughfare.
   
People living across the side street.
   
 Inside the John Adams birth house.   Not too bad for the 18th century.  As you can see, they didn't have a whole lot in those days.  Where's the couch and La-Z-Boy?  The 72" flat screen TV?  The computer?
   
Next door is the house where John Adams spent his young adult life.  He lived and worked here.  This house looks more authentic.
   
I think we were supposed to go to a Visitors Center and catch a shuttle bus to these two houses, and then go on tour led by a Park Ranger.  But it was late in the day and we came directly to the houses.  Some Park Rangers were still around, and one graciously took us through the two houses, even though it was near closing time.
   
This crade is a genuine artifact from the Adams family (no pun intended).  It reminded Lynnette and I of a cradle we built ourselves for our first child, Lucy.
   
John Adams may have sat at this very desk and worked.  It doesn't take much to do great things, does it?  Paper, a pen, and a writing surface; that's all that is required.  These days, just a laptop.
   
The Park Ranger telling us about the room.
   
 
   
The large paper on the table is a copy of the Massachusetts Constitution, of which John Adams was the primary author of  in 1780.  It influenced the United States constitution, as did Adams's essay Thoughts on Government.
   
As you might expect, John Adams was well read and had a large library.  These are just some of his books.  A room like this was probably filled with books.
   

Leaving the two houses, we drove a mile away to the "Old House" which John and Abigail Adams moved to in 1788, after returning from Europe where they had been for ten years, Adams serving as Ambassador to France and the Netherlands during the revolutionary war and to Great Britain afterwards.

Now this is more like what you might expect of a house that a Founding Father, Secretary of State and United States President would  live in.  It's pretty nice for the 18th Century.  But at the time the Adams moved in, it was in poor repair and small and cramped after what they had known in Europe.  There were just six rooms and ceilings were low.  But after four generations it has turned into a very nice place.

The Old House at Peace field, built in 1731, became the residence of the Adams family for four generations from 1788 to 1927. It was home to Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams; First Ladies Abigail and Louisa Catherine Adams; Civil War Minister to Great Britain Charles Francis Adams; and literary historians Henry and Brooks Adams. The vast collection of original artifacts inside the Old House greatly assists the park's interpretive staff to relate the Adams family's legacy of service to their nation. Adjacent to the house is the Stone Library, built in 1873, it contains more than 12,000 books that belonged to the Adamses. The Old House grounds include a historic orchard and an 18th-century style formal garden, containing thousands of annual and perennial flowers.
   
Unfortunately, the Old House was closed by the time we got to it.  I don't believe you could go inside anyways, because of Covid, of course.   The ground were open, though, so we just walked around the house.
   
The 18th-century style formal garden.  That building is the Stone Library.
   
I wonder how far back this large tree goes.
   
Looking at the Old House from the garden, with the Stone Library on the left.
   
In the back of the house was a large field for orchards and farming.  John Adams owned 75 acres here originally; only 3.68 remain preserved. 
   
This water pump is a reproduction or the original installed in the early 1700s at the location of the well.  In the 1850s, running water was brought into the house, replacing the well and pump.
   
From the rear, it is apparent the Old House is much larger than one might think.
   
 
   
Previous
Home
Next