Letters written by John Adams
From Bpljohnadamsmss
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: Feb. 1764
Type: AD
Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Place of creation: Boston, Mass.
Recipient: Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature
Place of receipt: Boston, Mass.
Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 25 x 18 cm.
Summary: Adams writes on behalf of William Field, in administration of the estate of Abijah Crane, which is heavily in debt. Signed by Field.
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: 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: 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: March 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: Nov. 1769, term
Type: ADS
Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Place of creation: Salem, Mass.
Recipient: Salem Superior Court
Place of receipt: Salem, Mass.
Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 10 x 15 cm.
Summary: Discusses the plea of Samuel Fitch and asks that it gets moved to the following term.
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. Transcriptions are available in both a verbatim version and a vernacular version.
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: Feb. 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: Jan. 27, 1793
Type: ALS
Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Place of creation: Philadelphia, Pa.
Recipient: Copley, John Singleton, 1738-1815.
Place of receipt: Unidentified
Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm.
Summary: Adams acknowledges receipt of the Copley’s The Death of the Earl of Chatham, and has presented it to the President, who sends his appreciation.
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: Feb. 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: [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: 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 (3 p.) ; 23 x 18 cm.
Summary: Adams comments on sexual morality and Aaron Burr.
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: Aug. 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: Sept. 9, 1816
Type: ADS
Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826; et. al.
Place of creation: Cambridge, Mass.
Recipient: Committee of Proprietors of the Market House (Samuel Bartlett, Thomas Warland, Israel Porter, Samuel Child, and Eliab W, Metcalf)
Place of receipt: Cambridge, Mass.
Physical description: 1 item (2 p.) ; 34 x 21 cm.
Summary: Lease of a tract of land, Market House, in Cambridge, Mass. Signed by Adams, William Winthrop, Aaron Hill, and others.
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: April 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: July 29, 1818
Type: ALS
Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Place of creation: Quincy, Mass.
Recipient: King, Rufus, 1755-1827.
Place of receipt: Long Island, New York, New York
Physical description: 1 item (1 p.) ; 25 x 20 cm.
Summary: Adams praises King’s speech and expresses fears regarding the future of America.
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.
Date: Unidentified
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]
Physical description: 1 item (5 p.) ; 30 x 17 cm.
Summary: Written by Adams on behalf of the citizens of Boston.
