Letters written by John Adams

From Bpljohnadamsmss

Revision as of 21:00, 14 November 2006

Abbreviations Used

AD: Autograph document

ADS: Autograph document signed

AL: Autograph letter

ALS: Autograph letter signed

ANS: Autograph note signed

DS: Document note

DNS: Document note signed

LS: Letter signed

TD: Typed document

TDS: Typed document signed

TLS: Typed letter signed

Date: 1766

Type: AD Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Treat & Pico, merchants

Place of receipt: Boston

Physical description: 4 items ; 24 x 39 cm. (max)

Summary: Bill to Treat & Pico for Adams’s bookkeeping services.

Date: Aug. 1765-July 1766

Type: AD

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Treat & Pico, merchants

Place of receipt: Boston

Physical description: 6 items ; 19 x 34 cm. (max.)

Summary: Accounts for various clients of Adams’s, including Capt. William Wimble, Joseph Blake, and the schooner Molly.

Date: March 1766

Type: DS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: [Boston]

Recipient: Honorable Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature

Place of receipt: [Boston]

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 19 x 16 cm.

Summary: Appeal for affirmation of judgment by Benjamin Harrord and Benjamin Dolbeare against Francis Whitmore.

Date: March 1766

Type: DS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: [Boston]

Recipient: Honorable Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature

Place of receipt: [Boston]

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 20 x 11 cm.

Summary: Appeal for affirmation of judgment by Robert Ball against Joseph Russell; statement of costs of suit.

Date: Mar. 10, 1767

Type: DS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Boston Selectmen

Place of receipt: Boston

Physical description: 1 item (2 p.) ; 33 x 21 cm.

Summary: Boston citizens petition Boston Selectmen to appoint Nathaneal Oliver as master of North Grammar School.

Date: 1770

Type: AD

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: None

Place of receipt: None

Physical description: 10 items (20 p., last 7 pages blank) ; 14 x 10 cm.

Summary: Adams’s legal notes from the Boston Massacre trial. In fragile condition; use photocopies unless originals are necessary. Fully cataloged in OCLC and the BPL catalog.

Date: Jan. 4, 1770

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826; Adams, Abigail (Smith), 1744-1818.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Smith, Isaac.

Place of receipt: S. Carolina

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 30 x 19 cm.

Summary: Abigail Adams gives advice on proper conduct and quotes Polonius’s speech to Laertes; includes a postscript by Adams.

Date: March 1770?

Type: AD

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826; for Adam Air.

Place of creation: [Boston]

Recipient: His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson … and His Majesty’s Council

Place of receipt: [Boston]

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 21 x 10 cm.

Summary: Answers to a libel for divorce of Martha Air, his wife. Denies charges and prays they be dismissed.

Date: Dec. 11, 1770

Type: AD

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Nantucket County Sheriff, etc.

Place of receipt: [Nantucket, Mass.]

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 32 x 20 cm.

Summary: Legal document written by Adams on behalf of Paul [Hassey?]; several hundred words in Adams’s hand.

Date: May 1773

Type: ADS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: Inhabitants of Boston

Place of receipt: Boston

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 33 x 21 cm.

Summary: Petition about street names, specifically that the southernmost street in Boston be known as Pleasant St.

Date: Aug. 7, 1773

Type: AN

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Boston

Recipient: None

Place of receipt: None

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 17 x 21 cm.

Summary: Genealogical note on the first members of the Adams family to settle in Braintree.

Date: July 9, 1776

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Philadelphia, Pa.

Recipient: Chase, Samuel, 1741-1811.

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm.

Summary: Adams describes the announcement and celebration of the Declaration of Independence.

Date: February 8, 1778

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826 ; Adams, Abigail (Smith), 1744-1818.

Place of creation: Braintree, Mass.

Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813.

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 21 x 17 cm.

Summary: Adams comments on the bravery and skill of various American officers.

Date: June 17, 1779

Type: DS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Philadelphia, Pa.

Recipient: Pickering, Jr., Timothy

Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa.

Physical description: 1 item (1 p.); 23 x 32 cm.

Summary: Executive appointment of Timothy Pickering, Jr. to midshipman in the US Navy.

Date: Mar. 18, 1780

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Paris

Recipient: Warren, James, 1726-1808. (General Warren, of Plymouth)

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (2 p.) ; 24 x 19 cm.

Summary: Monsieur Jean Baptiste Petry is to visit American and desires introduction to statesmen in Boston. Comments on the departure of Lafayette and his message to Congress. Explains the meaning of the allusion to the “Fruit of the Cracovie.”

Date: June 17, 1782

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: The Hague

Recipient: Warren, James, 1726-1808. (General Warren, of Plymouth)

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm.

Summary: Adams regards the Dutch and their worthiness.

Date: Apr. 9, 1783

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Paris

Recipient: James Warren, 1726-1808

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 22 x 17cm.

Summary: Adams discusses politics in Europe.

Date: May 6, 1785

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Auteuil [France]

Recipient: Warren, Mercy (Otis), 1728-1814

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm.

Summary: Adams discusses the need for a minister in Great Britain and inquires after James Warren.

Date: Dec. 12, 1785

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Grosvenor Square [London]

Recipient: Otis, James, 1726-1808

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm.

Summary: Adams discusses the wisdom of various military decisions.

Date: July 5, 1789

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Richmond Hill, [New York]

Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813.

Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa.

Physical description: 2 items (5 p.) ; 26 x 20 cm. (max.)

Summary: Adams comments on the importance and necessity of titles.

Date: July 24, 1789

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: New York

Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813.

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 21 cm.

Summary: Adams comments on the necessity of a more exalted title than “President.”

Date: July 28, 1789

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.

Place of creation: Richmond Hill, [New York]

Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813.

Place of receipt: Unidentified

Physical description: 1 item (8 p.) ; 26 x 21 cm. (pages 6-7 blank)

Summary: Adams discusses titles and their use in ancient Rome.

Date: Sept. 12, 1790-Nov. 20, 1790

Type: ALS

Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826; Samuel Adams, 1722-1803.

Place of creation: Boston; New York

Recipient: Adams, John, 1735-1826; Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803.

Place of receipt: Boston; New York

Physical description: 1 item (32 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm.

Summary: A series of letters between John and Samuel Adams, discussing politics, etc.

Date: Nov. 16, 1792

Type: AL Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Copley, John Singleton, 1738-1815. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (2 p.) ; 22 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams received a print of Copley’s picture of the Death of the Earl of Chatham, but was not at Mt. Vernon when the case arrived so it has not yet been presented to him.

Date: May 3, 1797

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: [Philadelphia] Recipient: Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814. Place of receipt: : [Philadelphia] Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 21 cm. Summary: Adams states his principles toward the Republican system.

Date: May 28, 1798

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Philadelphia, Pa. Recipient: Inhabitants of Wells, [Ma.] Place of receipt: Wells, [Ma.] Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 26 x 21 cm. Summary: Adams thanks the people of Wells for their resolution of support. Note: Wells is now a part of Maine.

Date: Mar. 10, 1800

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Philadelphia, Pa. Recipient: General Benjamin Lincoln Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 20 x 25 cm. Summary: Adams discusses the changes he made in administration on coming into office, saying none were because of personal dislike. States that he did remove certain officers at Portsmouth for showing hostility toward the government.

Date: February 27, 1805

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm. Summary: Adams inquires on Rush’s health and activity.

Date: April 11, 1805

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 26 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams comments on the Franklinian system of government and compliments Rush on his fable.

Date: Sept. 30, 1805

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (8 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams discusses motions in the Continental Congress on the treaty with France and comments on the French Revolution.

Date: Feb. 2, 1807

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; Summary: Adams comments on sexual morality and Aaron Burr.

Date: [1807]

Type: ANS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Cambridge, Mass. Recipient: None Place of receipt: None Physical description: 1 item (2 p.) ; 6 x 16 cm. Summary: On recto, written by John Adams: “The Eastern Nations sink; their glory ends And Empire rises when their sun descends.” On verso: “Lines said to be inscribed on a [blank] at [blank]. Mentioned by President Adams at the Amer. Academy [of Arts and Sciences]. And written by him in the Academy Room at my request, 1807.” A. Holmes.

Date: June 25, 1807

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (8 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. (Pages 6-7 blank) Summary: Adams names people who have libeled him.

Date: Feb. 25, 1808

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams decries the adulation of George Washington.

Date: June 20, 1808

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 2 items (5 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. (max.) Summary: Adams discusses the political scene and prospects.

Date: Sept. 27, 1808

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams comments on the destructive effects of commerce and avarice on republican governments.

Date: Mar. 25, 1809

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Guild, Elizabeth Place of receipt: Quincy, Mass. Physical description: 1 item ( 6 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams cites genealogical references to Quincy ancestors in various works in his library.

Date: August 6, 1810

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Townsend, Alexander Place of receipt: Boston Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams comments on Townsend’s oration.

Date: Dec. 27, 1810

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm. Summary: Adams comments on the evils of banks and on bankers becoming a new aristocracy.

Date: Dec. 27, 1810

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm. Summary: Adams describes the romances he has been reading.

Date: Nov. 2, 1811

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 24 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams chronicles recent family illnesses and deaths.

Date: Mar. 19, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams relates anecdotes of his past.

Date: Apr. 22, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (6 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams relates recent conversations with Timothy Pickering about President George Washington.

Date: May 14, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams comments on the current political scene.

Date: July 3, 1812 Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams comments on and corrects confused recollections.

Date: July 19, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 24 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams discusses disinterested benevolence and Adams family history.

Date: Aug. 1, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams comments on British impressments and current events.

Date: Oct. 22, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams discusses mental illness and lack of naval strength.

Date: Dec. 16, 1812

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Plumer, William, 1759-1850. Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 25 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams feels a change in the attitude of the New England states, and queries the cause of it. He expresses a doubt to the qualifications of Madison’s competitor, and asks Plumer to express his own view of the state of the country.

Date: Jan. 4, 1813

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 2 items (7 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. (max.) Summary: Adams humorously outlines his life as told by his horse, Hobby.

Date: Feb. 21, 1813

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Rush, Benjamin, 1745-1813. Place of receipt: Philadelphia, Pa. Physical description: 1 item (3 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Adams comments on opposition to naval power in Congress of 1774-1775.

Date: Jan. 28, 1817

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Gorham, Nathaniel Place of receipt: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 23 x 19 cm. Summary: Discusses “chymists” [i.e. scientists] and the nature of the universe.

Date: April 4, 1818

Type: DS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826; Townsend, Alexander. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: [Adams, John, 1735-1826] Place of receipt: Quincy Physical description: 1 item (4 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. Summary: A biography of John Adams, written by Alexander Townsend, with notes by Adams. Signed by Adams as “A true account, errors accepted.”

Date: Apr. 4, 1818

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Quincy, Mass. Recipient: Bowditch, Nathaniel, 1773-1838. Place of receipt: Salem, Mass. Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams acknowledges the gift of Bowditch’s Mathematical Papers (181) and offers to subscribe to Bowditch’s edition of LaPlace’s Mechanique Celeste.

Date: Nov. 4, 1820

Type: ALS Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Montezillo [Quincy, Mass.] Recipient: Bowditch, Nathaniel, 1773-1838. Place of receipt: Salem, Mass. Physical description: 2 items (3 p.); 25 x 20 cm. Summary: Adams thanks Bowditch for Mathematical Papers and laments his lost influence.

Type: AD Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826. Place of creation: Boston, Mass. Recipient: Otis, James, 1725-1783; Cushing, Thomas, 1725-1788. Place of receipt: [Boston] Date: Unidentified Physical description: 1 item (5 p.) ; 30 x 17 cm. Summary: Written by Adams on behalf of the citizens of Boston.