Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams, 10 June 1804
Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams
Washington June 10th. 1804
My very best friend
I recieved your kind favor of the 31st on Friday Evening with the Bill enclosed for which I return you many thanks
I am rejoiced to hear that your Garden affords you so much amusement and hope to find it in high order against next summer I think if you intend to make any alterations in the House as there is nobody at present residing there it would be better to have them done this Summer We talked of adding a couple of Chambers and if it is possible without too great expense I should very much desire to have some change made in the staircase which makes the entrance to the House intolerable as it stands at present should this be attended with any difficulty I entreat you to excuse the request as it is only made from an idea that it would contribute both to health &. comfort—
Is Mrs. Gore much alter’d? I think Mrs. Derby should come here for the heat is so excessive that we are in a great measure obliged to adopt her mode of dress though with as much decency as we can very light cloathing will admit pray do not forget to remember me to my Boston friends when you see them, more particularly to Mrs. Smith—
Mrs. Merry surprized us last night by a visit quite en famille with Mr Moore a very agreeable man they staid a couple of hours he entertained us with some delightful airs on the Piano which he accompanied with his voice he sings entirely in the Italian stile &. with exquisite taste Mr. M. favor’d us with a trio of his own composing which is really one of the finest pieces of Music I ever heard the words were likewise written by himself & begin “Lady fair where art thou roaming” this is the gentleman who translated Anacreon he looks very young to be so celebreated Mr. M. quits this place tomorrow it is probable he will visit Boston I have a great inclination to give him a letter to you that you may become acquainted with him—1 The day the Chargé left the City Mrs. M. paid a visit to Mrs. T. Peter and they are likely to become very intimate.—2 Chargés namesake the Dr. has very suddenly changed his Politics and is now become a furious federalist to the astonishment of all the world—3
Our little John has been extremely unwell & is wonderfully reduced he is now cutting two of his high teeth which have made him suffer very much for the last three weeks &. are not yet through I have some thoughts of taking him to Bladensburg which is about eight miles from this place for a day or two as I think a change of air might be of great service to him he is much better the last three days & I make no doubt will be perfectly well when the teeth are through therefore do not be uneasy if he had been very seriously sick I should have written you before—4 George is very well Mrs. Merry says he is formed for a Politician he understands the art of twisting a subject better than any child she ever saw— I am sorry to say he has lost almost all his French—
Adi[eu my] best loved friend remember me affectionately [to] your fam[ily &] be assured of the unalterable affection of y[our]
L. C. Adams
RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “John Q. Adams Esqr.”; endorsed: “Louisa. 10. June 1804. / 21. June recd: / 23. June Ansd:.” Some loss of text where the seal was removed.
1. The Irish-born poet Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was then traveling in North America, including a visit to Washington, D.C., where he met Thomas Jefferson. While attending Trinity College, Dublin, Moore translated selections from the Greek poet Anacreon, which he published in 1800, and his early songs and publications achieved commercial success in London by 1801. His song “Oh, Lady Fair!” was among the number that LCA heard (DNB; The Works of Thomas Moore, 8 vols., Paris, 1823–1824, 5:187). For Moore’s subsequent travels, see JQA to LCA, 7 Oct. 1804, and note 7, below.
2. That is, Elizabeth Death Leathes Merry and Martha Parke Custis Peter.
3. LCA was referring to the British chargé d’affaires Edward Thornton and Washington resident William Thornton. For JQA’s dismissal of the rumor, see his letter to LCA of 23 June, below.
4. LCA later recorded of her visits to Maryland: “The health of my Children was the sole object of my life and I was continually moving from the City of Blandensberg or to Clarksville about half way to Frederick for the benefit of change of Air” (, 1:217).