Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832)

Thomas Boylston Adams (September 15, 1772 – March 13, 1832) was the third and youngest son of John and Abigail (Smith) Adams.

In 1784 Abigail Adams traveled to Europe to accompany her husband on his diplomatic missions. While both of his parents were abroad, Thomas Adams lived with relatives in Haverhill, Massachusetts. In 1790 he graduated from Harvard University where he had studied law - according to his family’s wishes. His elder brother, John Quincy Adams, did not believe he had sufficient skills to practice law successfully.

Adams accompanied his brother John Quincy to the Netherlands and Prussia, serving as his secretary from 1794 to 1798. In 1805, he married Ann Harrod of Haverhill and the couple produced seven children in only eleven years. They settled in Quincy, Massachusetts and Adams served as his town's representative to the Massachusetts legislature from 1805-1806. Four years later, Adams was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1810.^[1] 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. Father John Adams disowned his son due to failure. Thomas later died in Quincy in 1832, deeply in debt.

Family tree

References

• Adams biographical sketches