Abigail Adams, first lady and founding mother

Today marks the 275th anniversary of the birth of Abigail Smith Adams, the second woman to serve as America’s first lady. She was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Quincy, a cousin of John Hancock; and William Smith, a Congregationalist minister. While Abigail had no formal education, her mother taught her and her sisters reading, writing, and arithmetic, and Abigail read voraciously from her father’s personal library.

In 1764, she married country lawyer John Adams, with whom she shared a desire to see America as an independent nation free from the British Empire; she also shared a deep commitment to abolition. After their wedding, the couple moved to Braintree, Mass. The couple had six children within 12 years. John frequently traveled for his legal work, and, later, as part of his involvement in the Continental Congress and the American Revolution. Abigail managed the farm and their financial affairs, which she did with great skill, making investments that would protect the family throughout John’s life. She was also John’s confidant and adviser; their numerous letters paint an enduring portrait of a marriage based on shared intellectual interests, deep respect, and surprising passion. Always an ardent supporter of women’s education, one of her most famous letters implored John to “remember the ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors” when passing new legislation.

She joined John in Paris in 1784, where he was serving as commissioner to France, and assisted him by playing the role of diplomat’s wife. A year later, John was appointed as the first American ambassador to Great Britain; her assistance wasn’t as effective in London, and John and Abigail received a chilly reception in the Court of St. James.

When John was elected as the second president of the United States in 1797, her family became the first to reside in what would come to be known as the White House in Washington, D.C. While there, she took in the children of the alcoholic men in her family, including those of her brother, William Smith, and her son, Charles. When John lost his bid for reelection to Thomas Jefferson in 1800, the family retired to Quincy, Mass. Abigail continued to raise the children of family members, including her granddaughter, when her daughter Abigail (known as Nabby) died from breast cancer; she also raised her son John Quincy Adams’ children, while he served as minister to Russia.

She died in 1818 of typhoid fever. Her last words to her husband were reported to be, “Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long.”