Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832)


Thomas Boylston Adams was the third and youngest son of the 2nd president of the United States, John and Abigail Adams.

Early life

Adams was the fifth of six children born to John and Abigail 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 while he was 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 of Haverhill, and the relationship produced eight children in only eleven years.
Adams died on March 13, 1832, in Quincy, Massachusetts, deeply in debt.

Family tree