Adams Papers

1777. Feb. 8. Saturday.
[from the Diary of John Adams]

1777. Feb. 8. Saturday.

Dined at the Presidents, with Mr. Lux, Messrs. Samuel and Robert Purveyance, Capt. Nicholson of the Maryland Frigate,1 Coll. Harrison, Wilson, Mr. Hall—upon New England Salt fish. The Weather was rainy, and the Streets the muddiest I ever saw.—This is the dirtyest Place in the World—our Salem, and Portsmouth are neat in Comparison. The Inhabitants, however, are excusable because they had determined to pave the Streets before this War came on, since which they have laid the Project aside, as they are accessible to Men of War. This Place is not incorporated. It is neither a City, Town, nor Burrough, so that they can do nothing with Authority.

1. JA doubtless means the frigate Virginia, built in Maryland and commanded by James Nicholson; see JCC description begins Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford, Gaillard Hunt, John C. Fitzpatrick, Roscoe R. Hill, and others, Washington, D.C., 1904–1937; 34 vols. description ends , 5:423, and the next entry in this Diary. On Nicholson see DAB description begins Allen Johnson, Dumas Malone, and others, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–1936; repr. New York, 1955–1980; 10 vols. plus index and supplements. description ends .

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    1777. Feb. 8. Saturday.
    Author
    Adams, John
    Date
    8 February 1777

    Reference

    Cite as
    “1777. Feb. 8. Saturday.,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-02-02-0007-0002-0003. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, vol. 2, 1771–1781, ed. L. H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961, p. 258.]