JOHN ADAMS

Adams, John (1735-1826) — also known as "His Rotundity"; "The Duke of Braintree"; "American Cato"; "Old Sink and Swim"; "The Colossus of Independence"; "Father of the American Navy" — of Quincy, Norfolk County, Mass. Born in Braintree (part now in Quincy), Norfolk County, Mass., October 30, 1735. Son of John Adams and Susanna (Boylston) Adams; third cousin of Samuel Adams; married, October 25, 1764, to Abigail Smith; father-in-law of William Stephens Smith; father of John Quincy Adams (1767-1848); uncle by marriage of William Cranch; grandfather of George Washington Adams and Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886); great-grandfather of John Quincy Adams (1833-1894) and Brooks Adams; ancestor of William Rush Merriam and Eugene H. Nickerson; great-great-grandfather of Charles Francis Adams (1866-1954); great-great-great-grandfather of Thomas Boylston Adams. Lawyer; Delegate to Continental Congress from Massachusetts, 1774-78; signer, Declaration of Independence, 1776; U.S. Minister to Netherlands, 1781-88; Great Britain, 1785-88; Vice President of the United States, 1789-97; President of the United States, 1797-1801; defeated (Federalist), 1800; delegate to Massachusetts state constitutional convention, 1820. Unitarian. Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1900. Died in Quincy, Norfolk County, Mass., July 4, 1826. Interment at United First Parish Church, Quincy, Mass. Adams counties in Idaho, Iowa, Miss., Neb., Ohio, Pa., Wash. and Wis. are named for him.
Children:
Abigail Amelia ADAMS 1765–1813
John Quincy ADAMS 1767–1848
Susanna ADAMS 1768–1770
Charles ADAMS 1770–1800
Thomas Boylston ADAMS 1772–1832

Sources:
United States Federal Census
Vital Records
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell