Susanna Boylston Adams Hall (March 5, 1708 – April 21, 1797) was an early- American

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

, mother of the second

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

and the paternal grandmother of the sixth president,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

Early life

Susanna was born in Brookline,

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

, on March 5, 1708. Her parents were Peter Boylston (c. 1673–1743) and Anne (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

White) Boylston (1685–1772). Her paternal grandparents were Dr. Thomas Boylston and Mary (née Gardner) Boylston, and her maternal grandparents were Benjamin White and Susanna (née Cogswell) White. The Boylstons were one of the most respectable families in New England and among her relatives was cousin Ward Nicholas Boylston, a benefactor of Harvard College, and uncle Zabdiel Boylston, the celebrated Physician who performed the first surgical operation by an American physician and was known for inoculating hundreds of people in Boston during a severe

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

outbreak. Cousin Mary Boylston was mother of Mary Hallowell, wife of Chief Justice of Upper Canada John Elmsley.

Personal life

In 1734, Susanna was married to John Adams Sr. (1691–1761). She is among the least well known of the famous Adams family, for her name appears infrequently in the large body of Adams writings. Historian

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United S ...

notes that no writings of hers survive, though it is known that others would often read to her, suggesting that she might have been illiterate. In his memoirs, John Adams wrote that "as my parents were both fond of reading...I was very early taught to read at home.".Autobiography of John Adams,
Parents and schooling
" p. 2. Together, John and Susanna were parents of the following children: *

(1735–1826), the 2nd president of the United States. * Peter Boylston Adams (1738–1823), a farmer, militia captain of

Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree () is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is officially known as a town, but Braintree is a city with a mayor-council form of government, and it is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The populat ...

. * Elihu Adams (1741–1775), a company commander in the militia during the American Revolution who died from

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

. Five years after the death of her first husband, she married Lt. John Hall (1698–1780) on October 17, 1766. Reportedly, Lt. Hall did not get along with her grown children. Susanna died in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

, on April 21, 1797, around a month into her son's presidency.

References

External links

* Adams family People from Quincy, Massachusetts People from Brookline, Massachusetts 1708 births 1797 deaths Mothers of presidents of the United States Mothers of vice presidents of the United States People from colonial Massachusetts 18th-century American women {{US-poli-bio-stub