Abigail Adams
Born November 11, 1744 (Weymouth, Massachusetts) Died October 28, 1818 (Quincy, Massachusetts)
Founding mother, letter writer, political adviser, wife and mother of U.S. presidents
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams (1735–1826; served 1797–1801; see entry in volume 1), the second president of the United States; she was also the mother of John Quincy Adams (1767–1848; served 1825–29), the sixth U.S. president. She is best known for her letter writing, which spanned approximately five decades. Never intended for publication, her letters were always newsy and often funny. They related the happiness and heartache of early American families and almost always included a discussion of politics of the day. When John was away on diplomatic missions, he came to depend on his wife's letters for information on politics and the activities of Congress. Abigail often instructed John to burn her letters, but he never complied with that request. Instead he held on to them, and from 1764 onward most of her letters to him survive.
Abigail Adams also wrote to her sisters, Elizabeth Smith Shaw and Mary Smith Cranch; to American revolutionary, historian, and friend Mercy Otis Warren (1728–1814; see entry in volume 2); to such prominent American government leaders as Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; see entry in volume 1); and to well-known British author CatharineMacaulay (1731–1791).
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