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John Adams, known as Jack Adams (4 July 1767– 5 March 1829), was the last survivor of the mutineers who settled on Pitcairn Island in January 1790, the year after the mutiny. His real name was John Adams, but he used the name Alexander Smith until he was discovered in 1808 by Captain Mayhew Folger of the American whaling ship ''Topaz''. His children used the surname "Adams".
The mutineers of HMS ''Bounty'' and their 
Adams' grave on Pitcairn is the only known grave site of a ''Bounty'' mutineer. It has a replacement headstone, the original lead-covered wooden grave marker having been taken back to Britain where it is now on display in the
Early life
Almost nothing is known about the early life of Adams. An article from the ''Mona's Herald'', dated April 1876, states that Adams had, for some time, resided inDouglas, Isle of Man
Douglas (, ) is the Capital (political), capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, Isle of Man, River Douglas, and on a sweepi ...
.Mona's Herald, Thursday, April 27, 1876; Page: 11
Pitcairn
The mutineers of HMS ''Bounty'' and their Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
an companions settled on the island and set fire to the ''Bounty''. Only the ballast stone remains of the wreck in Bounty Bay.
Although the settlers were able to survive by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among the settlers. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills had taken the lives of most of the mutineers and Tahitian men. John Adams, Ned Young, and Matthew Quintal were the last three mutineers surviving in 1799 when the thuggish Quintal, while drunk, reportedly threatened to kill the entire community if he could not have Fletcher Christian's widow as his own consort, and in response Adams and Young lured him to Young's house and killed him with a hatchet.
Having taken effective control of the 19-member strong colony after the 1793 massacre, Adams and Young then turned to the Scriptures
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...
using the ship's Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
as their guide for a new and peaceful society. As a result, Adams and Young embraced Christianity and taught the children to read and write using the Bible. Young eventually died of an asthmatic infection in 1800, but Adams continued his work of educating the women and children. The Pitcairners also converted to Christianity. The Pitcairners would later convert from their existing form of Christianity to Adventism
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Will ...
after a successful Adventist mission in the 1890s.
The American sailing ship '' Topaz'' was the first to rediscover Pitcairn in 1808. Adams was eventually granted amnesty for the mutiny. On 17 December 1825 Adams was married to Teio, or 'Mary'. Teio had already borne Adams' only son, George Adams, in 1804.
Adams' grave on Pitcairn is the only known grave site of a ''Bounty'' mutineer. It has a replacement headstone, the original lead-covered wooden grave marker having been taken back to Britain where it is now on display in the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...
in Greenwich
Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
, London.
The main settlement and capital of Pitcairn, Adamstown, is named after Adams.
Adams is portrayed by Philip Martin Brown in the 1984 film '' The Bounty''.
References
Further reading
* Conway, Christiane (2005). ''Letters from the Isle of Man – The Bounty-Correspondence of Nessy and Peter Heywood''. The Manx Experience. . * Wilson, Erle (1959). ''Adams of the Bounty''. Criterion Books.External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John English emigrants to the Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands politicians Royal Navy sailors 1767 births 1829 deaths 18th-century pirates HMS Bounty mutineers Pitcairn Islands Christians Castaways English pirates