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