1Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 5 April 1778 (Adams Papers)
Your kind Letter by Cousin Tufts was a pleasing and fresh proof of your Goodsense, Piety of Heart, sweetness of Disposition, and greatness of Mind, which renders you the Object not only of my tenderest Love, but of my veneration. It convinced me that you were actuated by those principles of Virtue which every One should endeavour to cultivate in their own Bosoms, if they wish to enjoy Peace...
2Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 14 April 1797 (Adams Papers)
If words could express the gratitude I feel for your kindness to me, & my Children, it would be worth while to delineate it upon paper, but as I am sure the attemt would be vain, I can only beg of him to reward you a thousand fold, who alone knows your particular wants, & can amply supply either body, or mind, out of his rich treasury— I sent for Cousin Charles to spend the Sabbath with me, he...
If I had received your Letter an hour sooner, I could have sent you an answer the same day, viz. Thursday, by Mr. Badcock who dined here, and would conveyed it as far as Milton Bridge himself. But having lost this Opportunity, I must send by the Post. But since you have signified your Request to Mr. Shaw only mediately, he thinks himself entitled to make use of the same Medium in giving an...
4Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 5 December 1784 (Adams Papers)
I have not seen your Letter to Sister Cranch as yet, and cannot tell how you like your present Situation—the People—their Language— nor their manners. But I suppose all “is sweet” now the dear chosen Partner is by. I think I will not allow Cousin Nabby to be a proper Judge. She will pardon me I hope. She views things through an unpleasing medium—she neither feels, nor wishes to be interested...
5Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 29 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
Your kind Letter which assured me of your welfare was a cordial to my heart. It came safe to hand, with its contents by Judge Livermore. The affectionate regard it evinced for me, & mine, might have overwhelmed an heart less accustomed to favours; accustomed , not callous I assure you, for esteem, love, & gratitude so often put in motion, fans the finer feelings, & makes them glow with...
6Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 1 October 1786 (Adams Papers)
This Day is the Aniversary of Eleven Years since our dear Mother left us poor Pilgrims, to sojourn here a little longer upon Earth, while she (as we trust) went to spend an eternal Sabbath in the blissful regions of immortality. The anual return of those Days, upon which some beloved Friend has been taken from me, I devote more particularly to the recollection of their amiable Qualities, and...
7Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 9 March 1803 (Adams Papers)
I hear by Dr Tufts that our Medford Farm will be greatly injured by the middlesex Canal being cut through the land— I am very sorry to have what little landed property I have destroyed— But I suppose it will do no service to object— People are so very economick, & publick spirited at this day, that every thing must be sacrificed to the common weal— But the President, & you my Sister know much...
8Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 26 March 1784 (Adams Papers)
The Roads have been so bad for several Weeks past, that there has been but little travelling, and it has been difficult to get a conveyance. I did not know when Cousin Charles sent his Letter. I intended to have written and conveyed them together, and to have thanked you most heartily, most tenderly for your excellent Care of Mr. Shaw, and for your ingenuity in managing his Case so exactly...
9Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 29 March 1801 (Adams Papers)
A mind agitated by the Vicissitudes attendant upon the present juncture of publick affairs, & oppressed by a large portion of domestic concerns, cannot often be disposed, nor find leisure to delineate its feelings upon paper— To the almost impossibility of portraying the various sentiments, passions, & exercises of the heart which have been roused in the past winter, I attribute Yours, & my...
10Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 18 March 1786 (Adams Papers)
Should I my Dear Sister, too much alarm the Heart of an affectionate Mother, solicitous for the welfare of her Children if I were to say plainly, that I wish Mr JQA had never left Europe. That he had never come into our Family. Then we should not have known him. Then we should not have been so grieved. Then we should not have this ocasion of Sorrow. His leaving it.—Indeed my Sister, our House...
11Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 20 July 1786 (Adams Papers)
Here I am, all alone for a great rarity. There is nothing more agreeable to me for a little while , than what the world calls Solatude. I have but one Servant maid in the House, and one Scholar in the Study. So that we are quite still. I hear nothing but the busy hum of Flies, and the warbling of a Wren, and spring-Bird in the Orchard, that set and swell their little throats as if the kind...
12Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 15 May 1798 (Adams Papers)
Though the kind remembrance I have of my Sister is imprinted upon my heart, as with a point of a diamond, & can never be erased while vital spirits remain, yet I know not when I have written to her.— The cares & anxieties, the hopes, & the fears, that I should do too much, or not enough for my poor Betsy, I did not wish to trouble you with, or to tell you that my mind has been so agitated...
13Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 13 July 1801 (Adams Papers)
For the communications by Mrs Black, you have my grateful acknowledgements. She made me only a Vis—short, & sweet. I was very sorry she could not tarry longer. I rejoice to hear that after many dissappointments your Eldest Son, is at length made the happy Father of a living Child. May his & your joy be complete, by seeing it grow up, a comfort to its Parents, an honour & a blessing to the...
14Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 27 March 1799 (Adams Papers)
It is a long time since I have written to you— My mind has been so agitated that I was not fit to write—or in other words, when I sat for a moment, & attempted to write my paper became so blotted, that I was asshamed to send it— Now do not attempt to reason; for I should feel so conscious that its dictates ought to be obeyed, & so little able to comply, that this would prove another source of...
15Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 2 January 1786 (Adams Papers)
Yes! My Dear Sister, Mr. and Mrs Allen are just gone from here, and carried away my Betsy Smith to tarry a few Days with them. After sleeping four years, he rose up like a Lion. He kept the Carpenters to work upon his House, till nine Clock at Night, and before the new painted and papered Rooms were really fit to go into, he harnessed two Horses, put them into a Sleigh, and set out on Friday...
16Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 16 April 1804 (Adams Papers)
When your Son delivered me your kind letter, little did I think, it would be so long, before I should reply. But my youngest Girl went home the Saturday after, & I have had a round of heavy cares upon me eversince. It was ten weeks before we could get any other Girl, & in some of the worst cold weather, & dreadful Storms which has proved quite too much for Lydia & me. But it could not be...
17Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 8 February 1787 (Adams Papers)
My Uncle Smith has been so kind as to send me word this Morning, that a Nephew of Mr Gill’s was to sail for London, in a Vessel from Boston next Saturday. Though I fear I shall not get a Letter into Town soon enough, yet I will write, a few Lines (though I have nothing very particular to communicate,) hoping I may meet with some favourable Conveyance. The State of our publick Affairs engrosses...
18Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 9 January 1796 (Adams Papers)
It is indeed several weeks since I have written to you—an eventful term to me—multiplied with cares, which have prevented me from presenting my most cordial Thanks to my dear Sisters, for their kindness, & the maternal affection they have shewn my Daughter— I think I Justly estimated her genius & temper—& my expectations were raised, that, when under your fostering hand she would greatly...
19Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 1 November 1786 (Adams Papers)
Two Vessels arrived from London while I was upon my little southern Tour. It was in vain that I enquired after Letters directed to me. “You have received one from Mrs Smith.” Yes, It was a sweet Morsel, it informed me of her Marriage, but not half enough to reperuse by our chearful fireside, no particulars of the proceedings , to satisfy the Curiosity of an hundred inquiring Friends. I cannot...
20Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 12 June 1785 (Adams Papers)
I have but just returned, my much loved Sister, from my Southern Excursion. You know how agreeable these always were to me. To see, and to visit my Friends constitutes a great part of my Happiness. To behold the Smile of Benevolence and Friendship, heightened by the Ties of Relationship is a rich ingredient in the Cup of Life. The pleasure it gives cannot be described, but we find, that indeed...
21Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 23 July 1786 (Adams Papers)
Mr Sparhawk called for my Letter Just as I was giving you an account of my Aunt Smith’s Death. I was going to tell you that Mr Thaxter had lost his youngest Sister, Mrs Cushing, who had been married about 15 months died in Child-bed. Upon finding herself ill, they sent for Dr Barker, but before he got there, she was seized with Convulsion Fits, from which she never reccovered. She has a fine...
22Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 15 December 1800 (Adams Papers)
Not one word have I heard from my Dear Sister, since I left Boston, nor have I had any intelligence from Washington excepting what we have gathered by the News Papers, & those we have read with a peculiar degree of anxiety. My mind as well as the publicks, has been long held in painful suspense, nor do we yet know but that he , who has been the stability of Our Times, may again preside, &...
23Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 26 November 1798 (Adams Papers)
I have this moment been conversing with Richard Dexter upon the subject of becoming one in your Family— His Object is to get some property, that he might acquire more knowledge in our Academy, & then go into the country, purchase Land for a little Farm, & by honest industry be stiled a useful member of Society, & a faithful defender of its rights, & Liberties— He sustains a good Character, &...
24Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 28 February 1796 (Adams Papers)
I am very sorry that I could not send Betsy Quincy with her Cousin, but my being unwell prevented my having her in readiness— Upon my own account I feel loth to part with her, but when I consider her advantage, & how much she improved in the last year, I think I should be doing her injustice, if I were not solicitous to place her again in a situation, where having gained five talents, she...
25Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 22 August 1798 (Adams Papers)
Whenever I have set myself down to write to my dear Sisters, I have found myself so drowned in Grief, as to prevent my proceeding any further, than to make the attempt— To see my Child laid in the dust, was an affliction I had not prepared myself for; & I find the realities, the solemnities, the trial greater than I can bear, or support as I ought— I had too fondly hoped for her assistance...
26Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 23 July 1796 (Adams Papers)
Your kind invitations would have induced Mr Peabody to have visited you at Quincy had it not now been in the midst of making hay, & the expectation he has of finding his Son in Boston, & taking him home with him in the Chaise— He thinks it will be making a toil of what he should esteem a pleasure, for he could not get back with any comfort a commencement week— If I am well we hope to make you...
27Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 25 April 1785 (Adams Papers)
Not to hear one word from Novem. to April seemed a very long space of Time, to One solicitous for the Welfare, and deeply interested in every-thing relative to, or that can affect the Happiness of a much loved Sister. I have this Week been made happy by receiving two charming Letters from you. It was a Repast my very Soul thirsted after. And as I am informed that a Vessel is to sail the last...
28Elizabeth Smith Shaw to Abigail Adams, 6 November 1785 (Adams Papers)
Your Son, My Dear Sister has been a Member of our Family for these five Weeks, almost three of those I suppose he will tell You, Mr. Shaw and I were absent upon our southern Journey. He came a Friday in Peabody’s Coach, and we began our Rout the next Monday. His Uncle spent Saturday in giving him Directions about his Studies, and what he could wish him to pursue till his Return. Greek seemed...
29Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 10 January 1797 (Adams Papers)
Day after day has slid off into the ocean of time, with the Yesterdays beyond the flood, replete with Intentions of writing to my dear, esteemed, much loved Sister. But Sickness, accumalation of family business, & the extreme coldness of the weather has prevented— The time alloted for visiting my Friends was much too short, for my feeble constitution. I had been very unwell for three weeks,...
30Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody to Abigail Adams, 28 January 1798 (Adams Papers)
I have thought day after day, that another should not pass without writing to my much loved Sister; that tomorrow I should have time , & would devote it, to the effusions of Sisterly affection, but I find each day fraught with its cares, & now more peculiarly so by my dear Betsy Quincy’s being sick with a lung fever, in consequence (I suppose) of a sudden cold. She was voilently seized with a...