Short of the Kennedys, there is probably no more famous
family in the United States than that of John Adams. The Adams
spawned two U.S. presidents, three United States Ministers, historians,
writers and other notable relatives. By the time John Adams was
born on October 30, 1735, at his family home in Braintree, Massachusetts,
the Adams family was well established in the new colonies–having
been in Massachusetts for more than three generations already.
The first recorded member of the Adams clan had been born
in Elizabethan England in 1583. His name was Henry and he, his
wife, and their eight sons left for Massachusetts around 1640 and
settled on forty acres in Mount Wollaston, part of North Braintree.
He and his descendants prospered in the new land, proud to be Englishmen but
living largely free from any regal influence in the New World. Under
what came to be termed salutary neglect, the King let the colonists
fend for themselves, greatly increasing the commerce, wealth and
religion of those in the New World.
Lead by John Winthrop, the earliest founders of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony had helped establish the protestant faith in the colony.
The faith, though, had undergone several revisions since its beginnings
and it was no heresy that the young John Adams had hints of Arminianism
in his faith. He believed that God and man shared a unique relationship
to help each other.
Adams' father, Deacon John Adams, was a farmer by trade
and worked long hours to support his young family, which included three
sons: John, Peter Boylston and Elihu. The elder Adams rose to some
prominence in the community as his land holdings and wealth increased,
and he assumed new roles as a selectman, constable and tithing
man. As the younger John Adams later wrote, his father "was the
honestest man I ever knew. In wisdom, piety, benevolence and charity
in proportion to his education and sphere of life, I have never
seen his superior."
Adams' mother, Susanna Boylston, came from the upper crust
of Boston Society–what would come to be termed the "Brahmin Class"
for future generations of Bostonians. Her uncle, a doctor, had
first introduced the smallpox inoculation to the colonies.
The young John Adams took to reading at an early age,
and he became a voracious writer–writing down almost everything
that transpired in his life. His own autobiography contains rich
information on his childhood and his early years. He first attended
a home school across from his family farm and then transferred to
a Latin school run by Joseph Cleverly. Surprisingly, his first
serious brush with education almost caused him to lose all interest
in learning and knowledge. While Cleverly was highly educated for
the times, he was one of the laziest men Adams ever recalled meeting. Adams
soon became fascinated with "idle pursuits," like marbles and later
hunting. Adams took to hiding his gun in the entryway with his
coat, so could take off on adventures as soon as school ended. When
Cleverly reprimanded him, he began hiding the gun at a nearby house
during the school day. Adams' lack of interest in schooling and
his father's intense desire to educate his son soon became a great
point of contention in the Adams' house. John convinced his father
to allow him to transfer to a nearby boarding school and study
so that he could attend college earlier.
At around age sixteen, Adams entered Harvard College–the
first in a long line of Adams to attend that institution. (In fact,
one of the College's twelve houses is now named for the Adams family.)
The College, which then schooled only around a hundred boys and
consisted of three buildings, began each day with morning prayers,
followed by lectures, recitations and then long hours of studying. Adams
studied sciences under the famed scientist John Winthrop IV, who
ran the first experimental physics lab in the country. Adams fell in
love with Harvard and with learning. He rekindled his earlier reading
and writing habits, and threw himself into the sciences and mathematics.
He joined one of the school's fledgling literary clubs and wiled
away his evenings reading the latest in literature.
Adams had grave doubts about entering the ministry, for
despite its liberal arts education, Harvard had remained primarily
a religious seminary. While Adams attended College, New England passed
through the Great Awakening, a renaissance of religion and philosophy
that left people more free to think and believe. Amid the confusion
of the times and unable to elucidate his own feelings on God, Adams
did not want to join the clergy. He found himself leaning towards
a career in law or medicine but remained unsure as graduation day
approached. He finally decided on teaching and was hired on Commencement
Day itself when the headmaster of the Worcester Grammar School
attended graduation and heard about John's desire. In 1755, just
weeks before Adams turned twenty years old, he left for nearby
Worcester to be a Latin teacher.
