101From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 28 December 1816 (Adams Papers)
General Boyd, Mr Stores, Mr Forbes, and Mr and Mrs. Everett, have all arrived in London within the week past; and by them, with many other Letters and despatches I have received your favours of 5. and of 26. November—There must be I think a Letter in arrear between the 30th. of September and the 5th. of Novr—You acknowledge the receipt of my Numbers 92 and 93—and 97 and 98. I hope the...
102From Julia Stockton Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 19 June 1815 (Adams Papers)
Altho’ I have not had the pleasure to receive a letter from you, since I last wrote; yet your goodness to me on all occasions gives me the assurance that you will excuse the liberty I now take to ask a favor for my daughter Manners; she has I suppose sail’d for England before this time, and in her last letter to me express’d a wish to get a letter of introduction to our Minister at the Court...
103From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 20 June 1811 (Adams Papers)
I have not been unmindful of you my Dear Friend, nor of each member of your worthy family since leaving your hospitable Mansion, where christian graces adorn the possessors. My delay in writing in hopes of sending the promised Receipt has been in vain, for it has been to no purpose that I have repeatedly searched for it. However I do not regret it so much as I otherwise should do as the Root...
104From Julia Stockton Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 March 1814 (Adams Papers)
Your kind attention in answering my letters heretofore, and my last being yet unanswered excites the apprehension that your health has been worse than common this winter I hope I may hear of any other cause, except an abatement in your friendship, but that I do not for a moment admit—Your condsending goodness to me has perhaps caused me to expect more than I have a right to look for, more...
Your very kind letter has eased my heart of a load of anxiety, on account of our dear George, whose health appear’d to me to be in a very indifferent state. and I could not have quitted him with any satisfaction, had I not placed him under your protection. recieve my dear Madam our united thanks for your extreme kindness in taking him to Atkinson which journey I sincerely hope proved...
106From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 19 March 1817 (Adams Papers)
There have been a multitude of American Vessels, wind–bound at Liverpool near two months, several of which have Letters for you, and for my father, and which I suppose will nearly all arrive about the same time—In the interval there will be a wide chasm during which you will be without advices from us, as we have now been long without any from you—The present will go by Mr A. H. Everett, who...
107From Carolina Virginia Marylanda Johnson Buchanan Frye to Abigail Smith Adams, 12 February 1812 (Adams Papers)
I avail myself of the opportunity that now offers of writing to my dear and absent Sisters whose affection for me will receive a severe pang, from the melancholy events that have lately occured. My mind has become in some degree resigned to the Will of Heaven. Your sympathizing and Maturnal Friendship has soothed and comforted my afflicted heart whose sorrows can only find alleviation in the...
108From Adelaide Hellen to Abigail Smith Adams, 3 January 1816 (Adams Papers)
Accept my thanks my Dear Madam for your kindness in so promptly favoring me with your Advice from my eagerness to obtain your opinion I over looked the liberty I took in requesting it. I hope this will prove a sufficient apology my dear Mr Adams for my having obtruded my private Affairs on your time. Suffer me to offer my Thanks for the valuable counsel you have gained for me believe me I...
109From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 May 1806 (Adams Papers)
A few days since I recieved your very obliging letter in which you mention having procured the articles I wrote for and for which I return you many thanks. I am much distressed at the idea your letter seems to convey of want of respect or attention to Mrs. Cranch it has ever been my most ardent desire so to conduct myself to every branch of your family as not only to merit their esteem but...
Your letter of the 24th of march, my dear Madam, is but just arrived, and although it was so long before it reached us, it afforded us the satisfaction of hearing from yourself, that my dear Boys were well at that period.—We have not yet heard any thing of Mr Harrod, I fear he has stopped at some other port in the Baltic, and that we shall not see him at Petersburg this Season—I feel much...
Having an opportunity to write you by Mr Lewis of Philadelphia who leaves this place for England early tomorrow morning I hasten to inform you of the general health of the family which although not perfect is as good as we can rationally expect Winter comes on us in so harsh a form that we anticipate an unusual degree of severity in its course this morning the River and Canals were hard frozen...
112From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 24 December 1814 (Adams Papers)
A Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain has this day been signed by the British and American Plenipotentiaries at this place. It is to be dispatched to-morrow, by Mr Hughes the Secretary of the American Mission, who is to sail in the Transit from Bordeaux—I have not time to write a single private Letter excepting this, but I request you to inform my brother that I have...
113From Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Smith Adams, 22 August 1813 (Adams Papers)
A kind note at the foot of mr Adams’s letter of July 15. reminds me of the duty of saluting you with friendship and respect; a duty long suspended by the unremitting labors of public engagement, and which ought to have been sooner revived, since I am become proprietor of my own time. and yet so it is, that in no course of life have I been ever more closely pressed by business than in the...
114From Charles Francis Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 13 January 1816 (Adams Papers)
Your idea of Osterley park being near our house is correct it now belongs to the Countess of Jersey the grand daughter of Mrs: Childs whose daughter married the Earl of Westmoreland. Papa is so bysy he cannot take us any where not even to the play these holidays. I am afraid not but I hope so because I have not seen the Theatre Covent Garden or Drury lane but I hope in the Summer that Papa...
115From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 23 February 1813 (Adams Papers)
My mind it seems had been in unison with yours for some time past, & I had determined the last week that another should not elapse without my writing for information respecting your, & the Presidents health, together with the various branches of your much valued family; & to say that the winter was passing away with us in as tranquil a maner as generally falls to the lot of humanity, rejoicing...
116From Richard Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 4 September 1815 (Adams Papers)
I lose no time in returning the enclosed letters, which came to hand to day, and for the perusal of which I beg leave to make my very sincere and cordial thanks. Such letters, from such a source, are a treat. It is the next thing to being in Europe, perhaps better in such times as these, and I am very thankful for the kind favor of being allowed to have them a little while in my possession. I...
117From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 10 September 1805 (Adams Papers)
I was much disappointed My Dear Madam in not having it in my power to see you again before we went to Newport & also in not calling on Mrs J Adams & Miss Johnston to have renewed my invitation to them that they would give us the pleasure of a visit this summer. I regret that I did not see them the day we were at Quincey; Delays are dangerous. Court held at Boston till Friy eveg prier to its...
118From Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Smith Adams, 24 April 1813 (Adams Papers)
The inclosed was written with design to forward by your Son, who I then presumed would have returned to Quincy the last Saturday the 17th—Judge Adams call’d on me the day he came to Plymouth & delivered your agreeable favor—I have not seen him since—I did not know he was going to Barnstable—is he there still—or has he return’d by the route of N. Bedford or Bridgwater?—Surely, he would not have...
119From Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Smith Adams, 29 August 1813 (Adams Papers)
I cannot longer be silent while my friends are mourning the death of such a daughter as was our much loved Mrs Smith.—But why mourn?—She is happy and soon shall we also meet the termination of time, when, may we unite in the universal harmony of love and gratitude which attune the song of the righteous!— Mr Adams’s philosophic view of the changes of time and his belief in the sovereignty of...
120From Hezekiah Niles to Abigail Smith Adams, 31 January 1818 (Adams Papers)
It is with high respect that I have the honor to assure you, you have mistaken my “Register” as well as its character , in attributing to it an offensive article about “ Drawing Rooms; ” while I have to regret that this is not the first time in which my secret pride has been humbled by a similar misapprehension. And such mistakes are easily committed, because another paper is published (at...
121From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 4 November 1816 (Adams Papers)
Since I last wrote to you, I have received your kind Letters of 27. August, and of 10. June, which I mention in the order, not of their dates, but of their reception. That of June enclosed a printed Copy of Judge Story’s biographical eulogium of our late excellent friend Dexter, whose loss is a calamity to our Country, and especially to our Native State, which with all her errors and follies I...
122From William Eustis to Abigail Smith Adams, 22 April 1811 (Adams Papers)
It is among the instances of good fortune which are now & then permitted to accompany the discharge of a public duty, that franking a Letter from the State Department in the absence of the Secretary has brought me to your recallection and attention. Judge Adams as I am informed has been requested to return to the United States as soon as circumstances will admit: and as no public vessel has...
123From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 9 August 1806 (Adams Papers)
I left Cambridge yesterday, after having finished my weekly performance, to come here and meet my wife whom I expect hourly here—I received this morning letters from her, dated one at Philadelphia 30. July—and one at New-York 3. August—She was with my Sister, who was well and in good Spirits—She intended to stay over Commencement which was last Wednesday, and then come on as soon as possible—I...
124From Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Smith Adams, 6 November 1813 (Adams Papers)
With the same glow of affection which has for many years been cherished in my bosom, I received yours of the first Instt. and seldom indeed do I meet with any thing in the Letters of my Friend Mrs Adams that causes a moments uneasiness.—But I have been anxious since your last & more so since the arrival of this day’s Post least some accident may have happened to a valuable Packet which I was...
125From Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 January 1817 (Adams Papers)
I owe you, dear Madam, a thousand thanks for the letters communicated in your favor of Dec. 15. and now returned. they give me more information than I possessed before of the family of mr Tracy. but what is infinitely interesting is the scene of the exchange of Louis XVIII. for Bonaparte. what lessons of wisdom mr Adams must have read in that short space of time! more than fall to the lot of...
126From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 18 May 1817 (Adams Papers)
As we are on the point of departure and much engaged I can only write to mention that we are all well and very desirous of soon meeting you in Boston. The remainder of the time that we shall stay in this Country will be very unpleasant as we are harrassed to death in procuring furniture and such articles as may be useful to us in America according to the advice which you gave us in a Letter...
127From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 8 September 1812 (Adams Papers)
My thanks are due to you My Dear Friend for a letter of the 1st. & it would afford me much enjoyment to visit Quincy this week, agreeable to your kind invitation; But my Sister Johnston is now passing a little time with us, a favor that we seldom enjoy so that I cannot leave home at present. By the last of Octr. it is my intention to be with you once more my Dear Madam, in whose society it is...
128From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 12 August 1811 (Adams Papers)
Although I have not written since receiving your favors of July 12th., & August 2nd., yet my heart has been with you daily, knowing too well by woful experience what your anxieties must be for a beloved Sister struggling between life & death, whose society must be precious to all who have the pleasure of knowing her virtues, & how much more so must it be to her near & dear Relatives. I have a...
129From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 2 May 1818 (Adams Papers)
My health has been so indifferent and the City is so flat since the adjourment of Congress that I cannot find materials for a Letter—It is difficult for me to say what the nature of my indisposition as the Doctor cannot ascertain it no more than myself but I believe general weakness and a slight attack of what they here call chills and fevers has been my chief complaint and the latentness and...
After a pleasant although extremely fatiguing journey we have safely arrived at Mrs. Hellens were we found all the family in good health and spirits Mr. Adams’s health is much improved and he has gain’d flesh on the journey but I much fear that the exercise he takes will prove too much and again reduce him to his former state of debility- My spirits and health have both been very indifferent...
131From William Cranch to Abigail Smith Adams, 7 July 1811 (Adams Papers)
Upon receipt of your kind letter of the 17th. ulto. I was too deeply afflicted by the information it contained even to thank you for it, as I aught to have done. I inferr’d from it that my dear mother had gone to join the departed spirits of her mother, her father and those other friends from whom she had been so long separated by death. It was A day or two pass’d before I was undeceived; so...
132From Julia Stockton Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 13 May 1813 (Adams Papers)
I want words to express the grateful feelings of my heart for your kind sympathy on our late heavy affliction, we have indeed suffered a bereavement that can never be repaired to us as individuals or as a family.—A husband, a father, a protector, snatched from us with but little time to prepare our minds for such a stroke, twenty hours before his pure spirit fled from us forever, we had no...
I began to be quite uneasy at your long silence my and was much pleased to find by your Letter of the 12th that pleasure and not sickness was the cause of your delay in answering my last. I am very sorry to hear that Mrs de Wint health is weak and I agree with you in the opinion that she left home too early I hope however that when she returns and resumes her quiet mode of life that she will...
The arrival of Mr Bayard, & Galatin, my dear Madam, has made so little alteration in our situation, that I have little or nothing to write you, but complaints, of the prospect I have of a much lengthen’d stay in this Country: and the additional grief of losing the society of my Sister, which was almost the only thing left me to render life supportable. Mr A is even more buried in study than...
I have delay’d answering your very kind letter owing to my Baby’s having been very seriously sick and requiring all my attention during a fortnight. He is now entirely recover’d and has two teeth— I much fear it will be a long time before I shall be permitted to see you as every thing appears to be in such a state of confusion and hostility that it is impossible to form any idea of the time...
136From Richard Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 23 July 1815 (Adams Papers)
It would have been a greatr gratification to me if I could have announced to you before this time the actual appointment of Mr John Adams Smith, as secretary to the Legation at London. I have, however, great pleasure in saying that I believe but one thing is wanting to it. Mr Monroe, who yesterday favored me with a conversation upon the subject, did not hesitate to say, that he feels “a...
For some time past I have been wishing to have the pleasure of writing to you, to express my thanks for the very kind and flattering letter you addressed to me by Miss Sumner; also to repeat to you the gratification I felt at an introduction to Col Sumner and herself. All agreed that they were ornaments to the society of Washington this winter. It was not however in my power, and truly did I...
138From Richard Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 November 1816 (Adams Papers)
I find, from a conversation with Mr Monroe, that it is not the intention of government to send dispatches to Spain by the Chippewa, or to employ her, in any other way, as a dispatch vessel. Hence the rumour adverted to in your favor of the 28th ulto. must, it would seem, have originated in some mistake. I ought to have transmitted this information some days earlier, and beg leave to apologize...
139From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 8 February 1816 (Adams Papers)
The receipt of your favour of 2. December was acknowledged in my last, dated the 9th. of January—Three days afterwards, I received your Letter of 9. and 18. November which had been brought by Mr Tarbel—But it was forwarded, I believe from Manchester, Mr and Mrs Tarbel not having yet arrived in London. We have received no Letters of a later date from Quincy. Our Sons, after a Vacation of seven...
140From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 19 November 1816 (Adams Papers)
Last week I sent you with a Letter from my wife the Newspaper containing the Account of the Lord Mayor’s day feast at Guildhall, where you will find again some mention made of the American Minister—The singularity of the feast did not however consist in his being there; but in the Circumstance that no other Minister, either home-bred or foreign was present; and in the phenomenon still more...
141From Julia Stockton Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 19 September 1817 (Adams Papers)
Will you permit me at this late period to come before you with my congratulations on the return of your Son and his family to their native country, I have wish’d to do it ever since I heard of their arrival. I am almost ashamed to say, and yet it is the real reason Why I did not, that I feel such a diffidence in writing to you that I cannot conquer, and which induces me forego what I esteem...
142From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 3 December 1804 (Adams Papers)
I received some days since your kind letter of the 11th: of last month, and was delighted to find you had so far recovered as to be able to write—Since then I have been informed by my brother and Mr: Shaw, that your health continued improving and I sincerely pray to the great disposer of Events that it may be entirely restored and long continued, for your own comfort and the happiness of us...
143From Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Smith Adams, 11 May 1808 (Adams Papers)
I had the happiness of receiving your excellent letter at Middleton, for which my heart is alive to gratitude. My dear Connexions were thankful for your kind rememberance of them. We returned home last week, & expect to set out for Portsmouth next Mony, when we hope to have the satisfaction of passing some social hours at Your Mansion. Excuse the brevity of this my Dear Friend, as many cares...
144From Henry Warren to Abigail Smith Adams, 4 November 1814 (Adams Papers)
Your letter of 22d Ulto: so marked with sensibility—so tender in expression, towards the offspring of the lovely friend, whose loss you so deeply deplore, excites the deep & ardent gratitude of myself—my brother & my wife.—the late call she had opportunity to make was delightfully satisfactory to her feelings & be will reiterated by me the first moment that can present itself.— Your assurances...
145From William Cranch to Abigail Smith Adams, 22 October 1811 (Adams Papers)
I received yesterday your kind letter of 17th. instant, informing me of the death of my dear and venerable father, and of the hopeless state of health of my dear Mother. I rejoice and am thankful that my father was not left to linger out a painful and solitary existence deprived of the dear partner of all his comforts. which It seems like a special interposition of the all–merciful hand. My...
146From John Quincy Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 12 July 1816 (Adams Papers)
Mr Tarbell informs me that he and his Lady have determined to return to the United States, and that they expect to sail next Monday for from Liverpool. I have now barely time to tell you that we are all well, and to send you a Newspaper, and the last number of the Quarterly Review—We have received Letters from my father and brother, and from you, to the 27th. of May—If the intervals between my...
147From Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Smith Adams, November 1813 (Adams Papers)
I did not my dear Mrs. Adams, write by yr Son when last in Plymouth, because I wished to retain the very valuable Letters of the American Minister at Petersburg, a little longer in my hand.—I wish’d my Son Winslow and his father to peruse them, which from sickness and other causes they could not do immediately.—I have not communicated them to any eye but those of my Son’s, though I think them...
148From Richard Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 29 July 1817 (Adams Papers)
Your kind favor of the 14th of this month, was very gratifying to me. Nothing can be more interesting then the account which it gives of the Presidents visit to Boston and the vicinity. The letter from Mr Adams which you were so good as to enclose, I have to apologize for not returning sooner. I desire to thank you for the opportunity afforded me of perusing it. There is an impressive wisdom...
149From Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams to Abigail Smith Adams, 13 May 1810 (Adams Papers)
The River being open at length, and the Vessels preparing for their departure, I sieze the earliest opportunity of writing, to assure you that the family are generally well, and that we have all excepting Mr Gray, suffer’d very little considering the length and severity of this tedious Winter.— I wish my dear Madam I could write any thing that would amuse you, but our lives are so uniformly...
150From Richard Rush to Abigail Smith Adams, 2 April 1817 (Adams Papers)
I am to thank you for the kind wishes contained in your favor of the 24. of last month. You have often, indeed, gratified and flattered me by similar ones, and I feel how much I owe to your over partiality. The appointment of Mr Adams gives, as far as I can ascertain, the highest satisfaction. If ever a citizen of our country owed his elevation to the solid merits of his own character, your...