John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Adams, 9 April 1804
John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Adams
New-York 9. April 1804.
My dearest Louisa.
I received this morning your letter of the 4th: instt: which gave me pleasure as containing the information of the children’s health; and sorrow by that of your own indisposition—1 The remainder of the letter was equally painful and unexpected to me— Our separation was very much against my inclination; but it was your own choice, and it has been my unvaried principle, and I hope will always be so, to leave the place of your own residence, entirely at your own election— Thinking as I do that my home, is the proper and only proper home of my wife and children, I shall always feel the sweetest satisfaction in having them with me; and shall ever lament your determination to abide elsewhere— But wherever you yourself choose to dwell, I shall so long as I have it in my power to support the expence comply with your desire— I never can be happy, distant from you, and will never be so, when I can avoid it without constraint upon your inclinations— Of coldness or unkindness to you, at any time, I am not conscious— The first wish of my heart is to make you happy as far as it is in my power, and it is a subject of deep affliction to me, that my means of accomplishing this wish are not more adequate to its ardour and sincerity.— Your attachment to your own family, is a sentiment so amiable in itself, that I can never disapprove it, and even when it leads you to prefer separation from me rather than separation from them, I acquiesce however reluctantly in your determination— But you will be sensible that I have naturally the same sentiments of affection and respect on my part, and I hope this will be my justification for remaining silent with respect to some of the observations in your letter— The duties of filial, of conjugal and of paternal tenderness are all equally sacred, and I wish to discharge them all with equal fidelity.
I arrived here on Saturday morning— This is Monday, and tomorrow, I expect to take my passage for Providence— From Baltimore to Philadelphia, we came the greatest part of the way by water— The roads from Washington to Baltimore and from Philadelphia here were very bad— I stop’d only one night at Philadelphia— I found Mr: Otis at Baltimore, and we came on as far as this together— The same day we arrived here, a Packet sailed for Providence— Mr: Otis went in it, and I placed Patty under his protection— They had a fine wind, and I believe are by this time at Providence— She was quite unwell on the road from Philadelphia here, but got better, and appeared very glad to proceed immediately on her way home—2
Mr: and Mrs: Payne are here, and had engaged their passage to Rhode-Island for to-morrow— But yesterday morning, she made him a present of two boys, at seven months— The children will probably not live, but she is as well as could be expected—3
My Sister and her children are well— Coll: Smith is confined to his chamber by a severe cold—
I have seen the Vice-President— It seems to be the prevailing opinion that he will be elected Governor of this State.4
Remember me affectionately to your mother, brothers and Sisters— My dear children; do not let them forget their father— And George, if he expects his drum must be a very good boy.
I enclose you a fifty dollar bill, from which Dr: Weems’s due may be discharged; I will send you some more from Boston; as soon as I can.
Adieu, my dearest friend— May you never feel a pang imparted from your husband’s hand; and may his feelings of the warmest and tenderest affection, ever meet with equal and correspondent sentiments in return.
So prays he who is ever faithfully yours
John Q. Adams.
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mrs: L. C. Adams.”; endorsed: “J. Q. Adams Esqr. / Recd. April 14th.”
1. Not found.
2. JQA departed Washington, D.C., for Quincy on 2 April, leaving LCA and their children to stay with LCA’s family in Washington during the congressional recess. LCA’s servant Patty Walin (also called Patty Milnor) traveled with JQA, a departure LCA attributed to Walin’s winterlong illness and her being “constantly in hysterics, because she could not see her Sweetheart.” Leaving the capital at six o’clock in the morning, the two traveled via stage and water to Philadelphia, where they arrived on the 4th. The next day the travelers continued by stage to New York City, pausing at Newark, N.J., due to Walin’s illness and arriving at AA2’s Manhattan home on 7 April. Samuel Allyne Otis was traveling the same route, and he and Walin departed for Boston by ship the same day. JQA sailed for Providence, R.I., on 12 April, and arrived on the 13th. The following day he took the mail stage to Boston, meeting JA in the city and riding with him to Quincy that evening (D/JQA/27, APM Reel 30; , 1:192, 193, 216).
3. William and Lucy Gray Dobell Payne were traveling from Washington, D.C., to Boston when Lucy gave birth to twins Edward William (d. 1832) and William Edward (d. 1838) in New York City on 8 April. William Edward Payne, Harvard 1824, was later CFA’s friend and legal associate in Boston (, p. 20–25; , 1:128, 4:311).
4. In late 1803 Thomas Jefferson informed Aaron Burr that he was dropping Burr from the Democratic-Republican ticket in the 1804 presidential election, prompting Burr to announce his candidacy for governor of New York on 18 Feb. 1804. A group of New England Federalists—Timothy Pickering, William Plumer, James Hillhouse, Uriah Tracy, and Roger Griswold—helped spur the decision. Reacting to Democratic-Republicans energized by the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, the Louisiana Purchase, and the impeachment of John Pickering, the group advocated for the secession of New England and New York from the United States and the formation of an independent confederation. The group saw as a first step Burr’s election as governor because it would give them a Democratic-Republican ally who shared their distrust of the Virginia branch of his party. Alexander Hamilton and Rufus King were among the Federalists opposed to the plan, and Hamilton raised the rumored secession proposal in campaign speeches against longtime rival Burr. JQA remained on the sidelines of the debate, writing of his visit with Burr on 8 April 1804, “He says if the Election were to be a fortnight later, he should probably succeed— Nothing could have induced him to let his name be held up as a Candidate for the Office of Governor of New-York, but the absolute necessity of interposing to save the Country from ruin by these family combinations &c &c &c.” Hamilton’s opposition and the failure of New York Federalists to support Burr led to his defeat by Morgan Lewis on 26 April. The loss effectively ended agitation for secession, and in reporting Burr’s loss to LCA on 9 May (Adams Papers), JQA wrote, “It seems the federalists and his partizans could not cordially coalesce, and failed in giving each other the mutual assistance upon which they depended” (, p. 252–256; Kevin M. Gannon, “Escaping ‘Mr. Jefferson’s Plan of Destruction’: New England Federalists and the Idea of a Northern Confederacy, 1803–1804,” , 21:418–429, 438–443 [Autumn 2001]; , 26:240; D/JQA/27, APM Reel 30; New York Commercial Advertiser, 26 April; A New Nation Votes).