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The Adams family was a prominent
political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple si ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries. Based in eastern
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, they formed part of the
Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English coloni ...
community. The family traces to Henry Adams of
Barton St David Barton St David is a village and civil parish on the River Brue adjacent to Keinton Mandeville at the foot of Combe Hill in Somerset, England. It is situated south-east of Glastonbury and north-east of Somerton in the South Somerset district. ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
, in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The two presidents and their descendants are also descended from
John Alden John Alden (c. 1598 - September 12, 1687) was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, US. He was hired in Sou ...
, who came to the United States on the ''
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, ...
''. The Adams family is one of four families to have produced two presidents of the United States by the same surname, the others being the Bush,
Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...
, and
Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
families.


John Adams

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 (October 19, 1735,
Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
,
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...
), to
John Adams Sr. John Adams Sr. (February 8, 1691 – May 25, 1761), also known as Deacon John, was a British-North American colonial farmer and minister. He was the father of the second U.S. president, John Adams Jr., and grandfather of the sixth president ...
and
Susanna Boylston Susanna Boylston Adams Hall (March 5, 1708 – April 17, 1797) was a prominent early-American socialite, mother of the second U.S. president, John Adams and the paternal grandmother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams. Early life Sus ...
. He had two younger brothers: Peter (1738–1823) and Elihu (1741–1775). Adams was born on the family farm in Braintree,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. His mother was from a leading medical family of present-day
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...
. His father was a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
in the
Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
, a farmer, a
cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...
, and a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
. John Sr. served as a selectman (town councilman) and supervised the building of schools and roads. Adams often praised his father and recalled their close relationship. Adams's great-great-grandfather
Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fran ...
immigrated to Massachusetts from
Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town and former civil parish in Essex, England. The principal settlement of Braintree District, it is located northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester. According to the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,634, ...
, England, around 1638. Though raised in modest surroundings, Adams felt pressured to live up to his heritage. His family was descended from
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
, whose strict religious doctrines had profoundly shaped New England's culture, laws, and traditions. By the time of John Adams's birth, Puritan tenets such as
predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...
had waned and many of their severe practices moderated, but Adams still "considered them bearers of freedom, a cause that still had a holy urgency". Adams recalled that his parents "held every Species of Libertinage in ... Contempt and horror", and detailed "pictures of disgrace, or baseness and of Ruin" resulting from any debauchery. Adams later noted that "As a child I enjoyed perhaps the greatest of blessings that can be bestowed upon men – that of a mother who was anxious and capable to form the characters of her children." Adams, as the eldest child, was compelled to obtain a formal education. This began at age six at a
dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...
for boys and girls, conducted at a teacher's home, and was centered upon ''
The New England Primer ''The New England Primer'' was the first reading primer designed for the American colonies. It became the most successful educational textbook published in 17th-century colonial United States and it became the foundation of most schooling befor ...
''. Shortly thereafter, Adams attended Braintree Latin School under Joseph Cleverly, where studies included
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, rhetoric, logic, and arithmetic. Adams's early education included incidents of
truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...
, a dislike for his master, and a desire to become a farmer. All discussion on the matter ended with his father's command that he remain in school: "You shall comply with my desires." Deacon Adams hired a new schoolmaster named Joseph Marsh, and his son responded positively.


Members

* Henry Adams (1583–1646) born
Barton St David Barton St David is a village and civil parish on the River Brue adjacent to Keinton Mandeville at the foot of Combe Hill in Somerset, England. It is situated south-east of Glastonbury and north-east of Somerton in the South Somerset district. ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, first of the clan who immigrated to
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, United States. *
John Adams Sr. John Adams Sr. (February 8, 1691 – May 25, 1761), also known as Deacon John, was a British-North American colonial farmer and minister. He was the father of the second U.S. president, John Adams Jr., and grandfather of the sixth president ...
(1691–1761) **
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
(1735–1826), second
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
, married
Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; November 22, [ O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, a ...
(née Smith) (1744–1818). ***
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
(1767–1848), sixth president of the United States, married English-born
Louisa Adams Louisa Catherine Adams ( ''née'' Johnson; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. Early life Adams was born on February 12, 1775, in the City ...
(née Johnson) (1775–1852). ****
George Washington Adams George Washington Adams (April 12, 1801 – April 30, 1829) was an American attorney and politician. He was the eldest son of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. Adams served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives ...
(1801–1829), member of Massachusetts state legislature. **** John Adams II (1803–1834), private secretary to his father. **** Charles Francis Adams Sr. (1807–1886), U.S. Congressman and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. *****
John Quincy Adams II John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894) was an American politician who represented Quincy in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867, 1868 to 1869, 1871 to 1872, and from 1874 to 1875. Adams served as ...
(1833–1894), lawyer and politician. His grandson was sociologist
George C. Homans George Caspar Homans (August 11, 1910 – May 29, 1989) was an American sociologist, founder of behavioral sociology, and a major contributor to the social exchange theory. Homans is best known for his research in social behavior and his works ' ...
. ****** George Caspar Adams (1863–1900), prominent college athlete and football coach at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
. ******
Charles Francis Adams III Charles Francis Adams III (August 2, 1866 – June 10, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as the 44th United States Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. He was skipper of the Resolute which ...
(1866–1954), 44th
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
, mayor of
Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 101,636, making ...
. *******
Charles Francis Adams IV Charles Francis Adams IV (May 2, 1910 – January 5, 1999) was an American electronics industrialist, United States Naval officer, and great-great-great-grandson of John Adams. Early life Charles Francis Adams IV was born on May 2, 1910, in Bost ...
(1910–1999), first president of
Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitali ...
. *****
Charles Francis Adams Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Arm ...
(1835–1915), brigadier-general in the Union Army during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
and president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. His granddaughter was artist
Mary Ogden Abbott Mary Ogden Abbott (October 12, 1894 – May 11, 1981) was an American wood carving and line drawing artist, world traveler, equestrian and an early Grand Canyon River runner. Early life Mary Ogden Abbott was born in Concord, Massachusetts on Oct ...
. ******John Adams (1875–1964), married Marian Morse. ******* Thomas Boylston Adams (1910–1997), executive, writer, and political candidate. *****
Henry Brooks Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fran ...
(1838–1918), prominent author and political commentator, married
Marian Hooper Adams Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams (September 13, 1843 – December 6, 1885) was an American socialite, active society hostess, arbiter of Washington, DC, and an accomplished amateur photographer. Clover, who has been cited as the inspiration for w ...
(née Hooper) (1843–1885). *****
Brooks Adams Peter Chardon Brooks Adams (June 24, 1848 – February 13, 1927) was an American attorney, historian, political scientist and a critic of capitalism. Early life and education Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on June 24, 1848, son of ...
(1848–1927), historian and political scientist. *** Charles Adams (1770–1800), New York lawyer. His grandson Alexander S. Johnson was a federal judge. *** Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832), Massachusetts legislator and judge. ** Elihu Adams (1741–1775), soldier. *
Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, an ...
(1722–1803), revolutionary, delegate to the Continental Congress and governor of Massachusetts,
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
's second cousin. * Samuel A. Adams (1934–1988), historian and CIA analyst. *
John Donley Adams John Donley Adams (born November 2, 1973) is an American lawyer from Virginia. He is a partner at McGuire Woods, where he chairs the Government Investigations Department and co-chairs the Appellate Team. Adams ran for Attorney General of Virginia ...
(born 1973), American politician and lawyer. *John Quincy Adams (born 1951), American diplomat and U.S. State Department official.


Family religion

Adams was raised a Congregationalist but left the denomination as a young man. By his early 20s he identified as a Unitarian, a recently formed denomination. Adams always felt pressured to live up to his heritage. His family was descended from
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
, whose strict religious doctrines had profoundly shaped New England's culture, laws, and traditions. By the time of his birth, the Congregationalists no longer called themselves "Puritans"; their severe practices had largely been dropped in the
First Great Awakening The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affecte ...
of the 1730s. Adams praised them historically as bearers of freedom, a cause that still had a holy urgency". Adams recalled that his parents "held every Species of Libertinage in ... Contempt and horror", and detailed "pictures of disgrace, or baseness and of Ruin" resulting from any debauchery. According to Dr. Sara Georgini, the editor of the John Adams Papers:
From John Adams through his grandson Charles Francis, the Adams family creed was conventionally Unitarian. They believed in a guiding Providence. They trusted that human will empowered them to freely accept or reject God’s grace. They turned away from miracles and revelation, preferring biblical criticism and lay inquiry to broaden the mind beyond the passive reception of dogma. Acknowledging Jesus as a “master workman” and gifted moral teacher, they grew fuzzy about his divinity, opting instead to scrutinize his teachings and doctrines as they related to contemporary culture. In line with their Protestant peers, most Adamses mistrusted the sensory emphasis and hierarchical nature of “Romish” Catholicism, but they revered Judaism as a source of lawmaking and ethics.


Family tree

The following is a selective family tree of notable members of the Adams family relative to Charles Francis Adams IV:


Harvard University and the Adams family

*
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
– class of 1755 *
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
– class of 1788, faculty * Charles Adams – class of 1789 * Thomas Boylston Adams – class of 1790 *
George Washington Adams George Washington Adams (April 12, 1801 – April 30, 1829) was an American attorney and politician. He was the eldest son of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. Adams served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives ...
– class of 1821 * John Adams II, expelled with most of senior class prior to 1823 graduation, later among those designated "Bachelor of Arts as of 1823" and added to Harvard's Roll of Graduates *
John Quincy Adams II John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894) was an American politician who represented Quincy in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867, 1868 to 1869, 1871 to 1872, and from 1874 to 1875. Adams served as ...
- class of 1853 * Charles Francis Adams Sr. – class of 1825 *
Charles Francis Adams Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Arm ...
– class of 1856 *
Henry Brooks Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fran ...
– class of 1858, faculty *
Brooks Adams Peter Chardon Brooks Adams (June 24, 1848 – February 13, 1927) was an American attorney, historian, political scientist and a critic of capitalism. Early life and education Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on June 24, 1848, son of ...
– class of 1870 * George Caspar Adams – class of 1886 *
Charles Francis Adams III Charles Francis Adams III (August 2, 1866 – June 10, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as the 44th United States Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. He was skipper of the Resolute which ...
– class of 1888 * Roger Adams – class of 1909 *
Charles Francis Adams IV Charles Francis Adams IV (May 2, 1910 – January 5, 1999) was an American electronics industrialist, United States Naval officer, and great-great-great-grandson of John Adams. Early life Charles Francis Adams IV was born on May 2, 1910, in Bost ...
– class of 1932 * Thomas Boylston Adams – class of 1933 (did not graduate) * Samuel A. Adams – class of 1955 Adams House, one of twelve residential colleges at Harvard, is named after John Adams and later members of the Adams family.


Memorials

*
Adams Memorial The Adams Memorial is a proposed United States presidential memorial to honor the second President John Adams; his wife and prolific writer Abigail Adams; their son, the sixth President John Quincy Adams; John Quincy Adams' wife Louisa Catherin ...
* Adams National Historical Park


See also

*
List of United States political families Many families in the United States have produced multiple generations of politicians who have had a significant influence on government and public policy in their communities, states and in the country. Some have been involved because of person ...


Notes


References


Further reading

*
Excerpt
* Decker, William Merrill. "Dynasty, Declension, and the Endurance of the House of Adams." ''Reviews in American History'' 49.2 (2021): 250-258
online
* Egerton, Douglas R. ''Heirs of an Honored Name: The Decline of the Adams Family and the Rise of Modern America'' (Basic Books, 2019)
excerpt
* Georgini, Sara. ''Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family'' (Oxford University Press, 2019
excerpt
* * Maddox, Robert J. "The Adamses in America". ''American History Illustrated'', Jul 1971, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 12-21. * Nagel, Paul C. ''Descent from Glory: Four Generations of the Adams Family'' (1983). * Nagel, Paul C. ''The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters'' (Harvard University Press, 1999).


Biographies

* Abrams, Jeanne E. ''A View from Abroad: The Story of John and Abigail Adams in Europe'' (NYU Press, 2021). * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams Political Family American families of English ancestry People from Quincy, Massachusetts First Families of the United States