Watercolor of the Old House of the Adams family, 1798

Peacefield, also called Peace field or Old House, is a historic home formerly owned by the

Adams family The Adams family was a prominent political family in the United States from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries. Based in eastern Massachusetts, they formed part of the Boston Brahmin community. The family traces to Henry Adams of Bar ...

of Quincy, Massachusetts. It was the home of United States

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and U.S. president

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

and First Lady

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 of U.S. president

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 ...

and his First Lady, Louisa Adams. It is now part of the

Adams National Historical Park Adams National Historical Park, formerly Adams National Historic Site, in Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Metropolit ...

. The Stone Library requested by John Quincy Adams is directly next door. It was built by John Quincy's son Charles, a Peacefield resident, after the deaths of the two presidents.

History

Peacefield was the home and farm of

and his wife, Abigail Smith Adams. Later, it was also the home of

, his wife Louisa Catherine Adams, their son Charles Francis Adams, and Charles' sons, historians Henry Adams and

Brooks Adams Peter Chardon Brooks Adams (June 24, 1848 – February 13, 1927) was an American attorney, historian, political scientist and a critic of capitalism. Early life and education Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on June 24, 1848, son of ...

Vassall Era

The oldest portion of the house was built in 1731 as a summer house for Leonard Vassall (1678-1737), wealthy owner of slave-labor sugar plantations in Luana, New Savannah, and Green River, Jamaica. The two-and-a-half story frame house had a gambrel roof and separate kitchens with quarters for enslaved servants. Vassall's will names two of those enslaved on the property: Pompey and his wife Fidelia. By Vassall's death in 1737, the estate in what was then Braintree included 60 acres of orchards, meadows, woodland, and farmland. The property passed to his second wife, Phebe Penhallow, who left it to their daughter, Anna Vassall Borland. A Loyalist, Borland leased the property during the Revolution. She reclaimed title in 1783 and sold it to her son, Leonard Vassall Borland (1759-1801). In 1787, he sold the estate for £600 to Boston agents acting for John Adams, then in England as the U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom. The Adams returned in 1788 to occupy the house, farmland, and orchards. They were disagreeably surprised by the house, however, after their years in England. To Abigail Adams, it resembled a 'wren's nest' with all the comfort of a 'barracks.'" They would call it "Old House."

Adams Family

During the subsequent 12 years, with Adams resident in Philadelphia first as vice president and then as president, Abigail Adams attended to the house and farm. She greatly expanded it, adding what is now the right side of the front facade, with a fine hallway and large parlor on the ground floor and a large study above. The additions were built in the

Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...

with a

gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, ...

roof creating a nearly full attic story. Adams returned to the house full-time in 1801 after his defeat for a second presidential term. His son John Quincy Adams also returned to the house at that time, after completing his ambassadorial term

in Berlin ''In Berlin'' is a live album and the debut release of English post-punk band Blurt. It was recorded live at the Rock Against Junk concert in Berlin, Germany on 13 December 1980, and released the following year, through record label Armageddon. I ...

. Further extensions to the house were made by his son, Charles Francis Adams.

Park Service

The house was left to become a museum after the death of Brooks Adams, John Adams' great grandson, in 1927, and run for nearly twenty years by the Adams Memorial Society. In 1946, the house was incorporated into the National Park Service. The park later acquired nearby sites include the

John Adams Birthplace The John Adams Birthplace is a historic house at 133 Franklin Street in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is the saltbox home in which Founding Father and second president of the United States, John Adams, was born in 1735. The house was designated a N ...

, and John Quincy Adams Birthplace,which together with the visitor center constitute Adams National Historical Park.

United First Parish Church United First Parish Church is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Quincy, Massachusetts, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639. The current building was constructed in 1828 by noted Boston stonecutter Abner Joy to designs by ...

, where both presidents and their wives are buried, is nearby but not part of the park. The family and the home are intertwined with the political and intellectual history of the birth of the American nation. Two older and smaller houses are located on the property, as well as the 1870 Gothic Revival Stone Library, which houses 14,000 volumes owned by John Quincy Adams. The property contains a historic orchard of heirloom apples, and formal 18th-century flower gardens.

Furnishings

The house contains a variety of valuable furnishings and artifacts which belonged to the four generations of the family that lived there. Former park superintendent Wilhelmina Harris compiled a furnishings report, an inventory of all the artifacts in the house. Notable furnishings include John Adams' law desk and John and Abigail Adams' bed.

Library

The stone library is a separate structure on the Peacefield grounds. The library was built in 1870 by Charles Francis Adams following the wishes of his father John Quincy, who had wanted to protect his books from "accidental conflagration." The library contains a large variety of books belonging to various members of the family, the largest portion belonging to John Quincy Adams. Notable books in the library include the Mendi bible, a gift to John Quincy Adams after the '' Amistad'' case, and a

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...

given to Charles Francis Adams by

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

. The library is built out of Quincy Granite. The city of Quincy is historically known for granite quarries.

Robbery

In November 1996 a robber broke into the stone library and stole several valuable artifacts including the Mendi Bible, two other bibles, and a text on fish. The artifacts were later discovered in a gym locker in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Grounds

The property was originally a large farmland, much of which was sold by later generations who were no longer interested in farming. The Park now maintains a decorative garden which is largely restored to its appearance in the 1880s in Charles Francis Adams's era. The park grounds include the historic apple orchard behind the house, a greenhouse, and a carriage house that was used to house horses and carriages and contained an apartment for the coachman or other male servants.

References

* McCullough, David. ''

''. Simon & Schuster: 2002. . *Withey, Lynne. ''Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams.'' Touchstone: 2002. .

External links

National Park Service web page on PeacefieldFurnishing Report
{{Quincy, Massachusetts Houses completed in 1731 Historic house museums in Massachusetts Presidential homes in the United States Museums in Quincy, Massachusetts Presidential museums in Massachusetts Houses in Quincy, Massachusetts Adams National Historical Park Adams political family residences Homes of United States Founding Fathers