Abigail Smith (1744-1818)/biography

Abigail Smith Adams (, –, ) was the wife of , the second , and is seen as the first  and the second  though the terms were not coined until after her death.

Early life
Abigail was born in to William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy on,. By the calendar we use today, it would be. On her mother's side she was descended from the Quincys, a well-known family in the, by whom she descended from King and King. Her father and other forebearers were ministers, and leaders in a society that held its clergy in high esteem.

Although she did not receive a formal education, her mother who taught her and her sisters Mary (1741-1811) and Elizabeth (known as Betsy) to read, write, and cipher; her father's large library enabled them to study English and French literature. As an intellectually open minded woman for her day, Abigail's ideas on women's rights and government would eventually play a major role, albeit indirectly, in the founding of the U.S.

Marriage to John Adams and After
Abigail Smith married in 1764, just before her 20th birthday. John and Abigail Adams lived in (later renamed Quincy) before moving to  where his practice expanded. In ten years she gave birth to five children: (1765-1813), the future President (1767-1848), Susanna Boylston (1768-1770), Charles (1770-1800), and Thomas Boylston (1772-1832). A now crowns the nearby hill from which she and her son John Quincy Adams watched the  and burning of Charlestown. At that time she was minding the children of, President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, who was killed in the battle. Adams is remembered today for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in, during the es. Many consider them to be invaluable eyewitness accounts of the home front as well as excellent sources of political commentary. John Adams frequently sought the advice of his wife on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. Passages from those letters figured prominently in songs from the Broadway musical  (and the 1972 film of it, with as Abigail Adams). She is known for her request that he and the Continental Congress:


 * ...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

John answered:...as to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh...Depend upon it, we know better Than to repeal our masculine systems... In 1784, she and her daughter Abigail, who was known in the family as 'Nabby', joined her husband and her eldest son, John Quincy at his diplomatic post in. After 1785, she filled the role of wife of the first United States Minister to the. They returned in 1788 to a house known as the "" in Quincy, which she set about vigorously enlarging and remodeling. It is still standing and open to the public as part of. Nabby later died of breast cancer. As wife of the second, Adams became a very good friend to and helped in entertaining at official functions, (generally known then as levees). Her experience of royal courts and society abroad proved to be invaluable. After 1791, her poor health forced her to spend most of her time in Quincy.

Abigail died several years before her son, John Quincy Adams, became president.

As "First Lady", and after
When John Adams was elected, she continued a formal pattern of entertaining, becoming the first hostess of the yet uncompleted. Her account of the new but very incomplete Georgian mansion is quite entertaining. She mentioned that fires had to be lit constantly to keep the cold, cavernous place warm and she describes setting up her laundry in one of the great rooms. The Adamses retired to Quincy in 1801 after John Adams' defeat in his bid for a second term as President of the United States. She followed her son's political career earnestly as her letters to contemporaries show. Abigail Adams died on, of , and is buried beside her husband in a crypt located in the  (also known as the Church of the Presidents). Her last words were "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long." An is proposed in Washington, D.C., honoring Abigail, her husband, and other members of their family.

First Spouse Coin
The under the Presidential $1 Coin Act authorizes the  to issue 1/2 ounce $10 gold coins to honor the first spouses of the United States. Abigail Adams's coin was released on, , and sold out in just hours.