Samuel Adams Sr. (1689–1748) was an American brewer, father of American
Founding Father Samuel Adams, and first cousin once removed of
John Adams.
Biography
He was born in Boston, on May 16, 1689 to Captain John Adams and Hannah Adams (nee Webb). He was a
deacon in the
Congregational Church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
.
He was a
Boston Caucus member with
Elisha Cooke
Elisha Cooke (September 16, 1637 – October 31, 1715) was a wealthy Massachusetts physician, politician, and businessman who was elected Speaker of the Massachusetts Bay Assembly in 1683. He was the leader of the "popular party", a faction in t ...
.
Advertisements from Boston suggest that Adams Sr. owned and sold at least one "Carolina Indian" slave in 1716.
In 1740, he helped create a
Land Bank, in
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
, using paper money to promote commerce, with a scarcity of gold and silver coins. In July 1741, the
House of Commons passed a bill destroying the land bank, by making shareholders liable for the bank's debts.
Family
In 1713, he married Mary Fifield.
They had twelve children. Three survived into adulthood, including
Samuel Adams.
Adams Sr. died in 1748.
References
{{Samuel Adams, state=collapsed
1689 births
1748 deaths
Adams political family
American brewers
American Congregationalists
American people of English descent
American Puritans
Businesspeople from Boston