The Abigail Adams Cairn marks the spot where

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; November 22, [ O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, an ...

and her young son,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

, watched the burning of Charlestown on Saturday, June 17, 1775, during the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is located on Penn's Hill, now at the corner of Franklin Street and Viden Road in Quincy, Massachusetts. Abigail was caring for the four children of Dr.

Joseph Warren Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot movement in Boston during the early days of the American Revolution, ...

, then President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, as well as her own children, Nabby (age 10), John Quincy (7), Charles (5), and Thomas Boylston (3), when word came that Dr. Warren had been killed by British troops. In the afternoon, she walked up Penn's Hill to the rock outcroppings, taking her son John Quincy and Nabby along with her. There they looked out over the distant hills and shoreline, seeing the smoke of Charlestown and hearing the far-off rumble of guns and cannon at Bunker Hill. The cairn was erected June 17, 1896, by the Adams Chapter of the Society of the Daughters of the Revolution. It contains various marked stones, including one inscribed ''Concord'', another ''5th Regt. Co. K., M.V.M.'', and ''From Bunker Hill Quarry, June 17, 1896''. (The stone for the

Bunker Hill Monument The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the Red Coats and Patriots in the American Revolutionary War. The 221-foot (67 m) gran ...

was quarried in Quincy.) Its builder was local stonemason John J. Stanton. A

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

was discovered inside the cairn in 2008.

References

{{John Quincy Adams Monuments and memorials in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Quincy, Massachusetts Buildings and structures completed in 1896 Tourist attractions in Quincy, Massachusetts John Quincy Adams