Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832)
Thomas Boylston Adams | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts General Court | |
In office 1805–1806 | |
Personal details | |
Born | September 15, 1772 |
Died | March 13, 1832 Quincy, Massachusetts | (aged 59)
Spouse(s) | Ann Harrod
(m. 1805) |
Relations | See Adams family |
Children | 8 |
Parent(s) | John Adams Abigail Smith Adams |
Alma mater | Harvard College |
Thomas Boylston Adams (September 15, 1772 – March 13, 1832) was the third and youngest son of the 2nd president of the United States, John and Abigail (Smith) Adams.
Early life
Adams was the fifth of six children born to John and Abigail (née Smith) Adams. In September 1774, two years after his birth, his father was appointed one of the delegates to the First Continental Congress from Massachusetts Bay. In 1784, his mother traveled to Europe to accompany her husband on his diplomatic missions including his service as U.S. Minister to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. While both of his parents were abroad, Thomas Adams lived with relatives in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
In 1790, he graduated from Harvard College where he had studied law, according to his family's wishes. His elder brother, John Quincy Adams, however, did not believe he had sufficient skills to practice law successfully.
Career
Adams accompanied his brother John Quincy to the Netherlands and Prussia, serving as his secretary from 1794 to 1798. After marrying in 1805, he settled in Quincy, Massachusetts and Adams served as his town's representative to the Massachusetts legislature from 1805 to 1806. Four years later, Adams was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1810.
In 1811, he was appointed chief justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the Southern Circuit of Massachusetts. Like his brother Charles, Thomas had problems with alcoholism.
Personal life
In 1805, he married Ann Harrod (1774–1845) of Haverhill, and the relationship produced eight children in only eleven years.
Adams died on March 13, 1832, in Quincy, Massachusetts, deeply in debt.
- 1772 births
- 1832 deaths
- Adams political family
- Burials in Massachusetts
- Children of presidents of the United States
- Children of vice presidents of the United States
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Harvard College alumni
- People from Quincy, Massachusetts
- 18th-century American people
- 19th-century American people
- People of colonial Massachusetts
- Children of John Adams
- Massachusetts politician stubs