Thomas Boylston Adams to Abigail Adams, 28 May 1802
Thomas Boylston Adams to Abigail Adams
Philadelphia 28th: May 1802
Dear Mother.
I have your favor of the 23d: inst: before me. The Country looks so pleasant and inviting in the vicinity of this City, that I have no difficulty in conceiving the beauties of Quincy farm, at this moment. I have lately passed some days, at different intervals, in the Country, and found much benefit, from the change of air. As to the accident, which befel me, I should scarcely have thought it worth while to notice it, if I had not apprehended the news might have reached you from some other quarter, with exagerations. I feel, at present, no ill effects from it, though the wrist of my left hand is yet somewhat weak. It was no vanity of horsemanship, that caused my attempt to ride a vicious beast; he carried me out very quietly, and I had no suspicion of his unfair behavior, until it was too late to think of any thing, but how I should save my neck. Few people, I think, would have got off better, or with so little injury, as I did. This, you will say, is a proof of my vanity, but I have suffered so slightly, that I must be indulged in a little boasting. One of the evils of poverty, which I experience is the want of an horse. I was compelled to retrench that expence, a twelvemonth ago, and shall not encounter it again, until I can better afford it.
It gives me pleasure to hear of my brother’s good health. His cares are much lessened by being relieved from the arduous duties of a foreign Minister, and finding himself once more in the bosom of his family, among friends & relatives, who take an interest in his affairs. I believe he will prosper very well, where he is, and nothing ought to persuade him from remaining there. It is no privilege to be a Senator in Congress, in these times. Let those who aspire to the honor, take their turn in laboring for the public.
You will hear of Mrs: Washington’s death before my letter can reach you, and mourn, in common with all, who knew her.1 She shared largely in the esteem of the public, both for her own & her husbands merits; and she has left to her descendants a rich inheritance, in her “spotless reputation.”2
The death of Mr: Johnson is an overwhelming calamity to his family, and I am utterly at a loss to divine the consequences, which must attend it. I hear the family intend removing to Frederic, where the greater number of their relatives live.
I send you herewith the Aurora of the day, just as a specimen of his baseness & impudence.3 I do hope it will fall to this villain’s lot to be hanged.
With love & duty to all friends I am, dear mother / Your son
Thomas B Adams.
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mrs: A Adams.”
1. Martha Washington died of fever on 22 May at Mount Vernon. The Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, 26 May, reprinted news of her death, characterizing Washington as having “dignity of manners, superiority of understanding,” and “a mind intelligent and elevated.” Her will of 22 Sept. 1800 divided her sizeable real and personal property among various family and friends, and a 4 March 1802 codicil specifically bequeathed Elish, an enslaved servant, to her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. The more than 150 members of the enslaved community at Mount Vernon who were part of Washington’s dower from the estate of her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, were divided among Washington’s grandchildren: George Washington Parke Custis and his sisters, Elizabeth Parke Custis Law, Martha Parke Custis Peter, and Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, 27 May; ANB; The Last Will and Testament of George Washington and Schedule of his Property to which is appended the Last Will and Testament of Martha Washington, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, Mount Vernon, Va., [1939], p. 56–67; , 4:494).
2. Shakespeare, King Richard II, Act 1, scene i, line 180.
3. The Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 28 May, criticized JA’s public spending during his presidency, labeling him “the Duke of Braintree.” The Aurora also criticized Federalist newspapers, including the New-England Palladium, the Boston Columbian Centinel, and the Philadelphia Gazette.