Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was born September 22, 1722, in Braintree, Massachusetts, to Samuel Sr. and Mary (Fifield) Adams. He was one of 12 children, but only 2 of his siblings would live to adulthood. He would be baptized the same day he was born. His parents are very wealthy, and his mother, who was also deeply religious, was the daughter of a leading Boston businessman. His family ancestry can be traced back to John and Margaret Thurston, both Pilgrims, who arrived in 1637, and Honor Rolfe of Wiltshire, England. His ancestors are among the earliest settlers of the colony, fleeing religious persecution of Protestants under Charles I. One of his ancestors, Henry Adams, would have had eighty-nine grandchildren.[1] His grandfather, John Adams, settled in Boston, where his son Samuel Adams Sr. was born. Samuel Adams Sr. opened a malt business and became a successful merchant. He was ambitious and wanted to be in the circle of distinguished Bostonians. By age 23, he was so successful that he could purchase a large home on Purchase Street. His son, the subject of this biography, was born there. Samuel Adams Sr. was highly active in local affairs, sociable, a Justice of the Peace, selectman, and representative in the Massachusetts House of Assembly. He was also a deacon at the Old South Church in Boston and was an enormous influence on his son.

            Samuel grew up in a very wealthy household. He could see Boston Harbor from the roof of his home and was sent to the best schools in Boston. His family was deeply involved in religion and politics, which profoundly influenced him. Many different preachers would come through the family church, and each one seemed to inspire Adams. He was sent to Boston Latin School and then to Harvard Law School in 1736. He would graduate 5^th in his class in 1740, but rankings were determined by wealth rather than academic achievement in those days. He was bright and did well in school, but not much is known about his actual life at college. What little information survives shows a studious and proficient learner who overslept and missed morning prayers only once in four years. He was well-versed in the classics, with Greek and Latin authors among his favorites. He loved logic and natural philosophy and was attentive to the works of different English government writers. After earning his B.A. from Harvard, he would go on to earn an M.A. a few years later, where he delivered his thesis: Whether it be Lawful to Resist the Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth Cannot be Otherwise preserved. As a result, his father urges him to study law, but his mother, with whom he was close, discourages it.[2]

He decides to get involved in politics because of financial issues stemming from his father’s attempt to start a land bank with other gentlemen to raise money at a time when there was little. Parliament shuts it down using an old, obscure law, resulting in the partners being held responsible for the bank's debts. Samuel Adams Sr. has the most invested, and he was charged with the most losses. He and his son will spend the next twenty years fighting legal battles over this event.[3]

Even though he has an interest in politics and pursues that avenue, his father wants him to have some type of career, so he secures Adams Jr. a position in Thomas Cushing’s counting house. After a few months, Cushing determines that business is not right for Adams and tells his father to find him another line of work. Adams was completely uninterested in business. He was employed with Cushing for only a few months. His father then loans him £ 1,000 to start his own business. Adams foolishly loans half the money to a friend, who does not repay him, and then Adams himself squanders the rest of the money. Finally, his father takes him on at the malt brewery. It was here that he earned the nickname “Sam the Maltster” because he hauled bags of malt up and down the street for his father’s business. He was in his twenties but still dependent on his father for an income.

In 1747 or 1748, he formed a political club, in which each member contributed essays to a newspaper called The Public Advertiser. The other contributors are unknown today. The newspaper was totally devoted to political discussion, with little news. The purpose of it was to convince others to be on guard for their rights. The topics of Adams' essays are varied, but do include several pieces on liberty. The first article he published was on the subject of loyalty and allegiance to laws rather than to government leaders. One quote from an essay in 1748 seems to sum up his views: “It is a very great mistake to image that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular action.” [4] Adams would continue to publish different pieces through 1764 in various publications, warning the populace against usurpation by the mother country. If he was not publishing separate pieces, he was constantly discussing the concept of colonial rights. What was unique about his writing was that he used language everyone could understand, regardless of their education level.

While 1748 started well for Adams, with the publication of his newspaper, there was some tragedy when his father passed away. He will inherit 1/3 of his father’s estate and have the £1000 debt discharged. He spends many days at the brewery trying to keep it afloat while stepping into his father’s political shoes. He joined all the political clubs his father had been a member of and retains his father’s friends while acquiring new ones, so that his circle of influence continues to grow. He would live in the house on Purchase Street for the remainder of his life, but his inheritance would gradually dissipate, with friends and family eventually helping him and his family stay afloat.

Eventually, he loses the brewery and, on several occasions, must fight for his home. One such occasion occurred in 1758, when the sheriff tried to auction his property and business to satisfy the old debts of the land bank his father had started. The sheriff put a notice in the paper, but Adams quickly responded, noting that the previous sheriff had also tried to hold an auction and failed. The prior auction was deemed “illegal and unwarrantable.”  The auction was rescheduled several times, with September 29, 1757, as the last. Adams showed up and threatened to sue whoever trespasses on his property, and also threatened a lawsuit if the auction continues. This action prevents the sale of his property, as no one wants to be involved in a lawsuit.[5]

In 1749, he married Elizabeth Checkley, who was 24 years old. She was the daughter of the minister who had baptized him, and they would have five children, two of whom survived to adulthood. Samuel III was born on September 14 but died on September 30, 1750. A second son, also named Samuel, was born on October 27, 1751, married and had at least one child before he passed on January 17, 1788. He entered the medical profession. Another son, Joseph, was born on June 23, 1753, but died the next day, and his first daughter, Mary, was born on June 23, 1754, but passed on October 3, 1754. Their youngest daughter, Hannah, was born on January 21, 1756, and passed away on May 28, 1821. She was married three times and cared for her father in his old age. His last child was born on January 6, 1757, but was stillborn. He was able to educate his children and, with the money he earns, maintain a respectable standing in society.

By all accounts, the marriage of Samuel and Elizabeth Adams was a passionate marriage. She was described as a virtuous, pious lady with a modest demeanor, and Samuel Adams adored her. He would write after her death, from complications due to her last pregnancy, “To her husband she was as sincere a friend as she was a faithful wife. Her exact economy in all her relative capacities, her kindred on his side as well as her own admire. She ran her Christian race with remarkable steadiness, and finished in triumph! She left two small children. God grant they may inherit her grace.”[6] She passed away on July 25, 1757, having never recovered from her last pregnancy.

Prior to Elizabeth’s passing away, Adams began a new job in 1756 as a Boston tax collector. This was his first political office, and he was not successful in it. He would earn 5% of the taxes collected for a salary, but he also does not collect enough taxes. By 1761, he had collected only about £ 2,200 in taxes, far below what he needed. There were a number of causes for this lack of enthusiasm for his job, including a smallpox outbreak, a lack of enthusiasm for collecting taxes, and humanity toward the people. He would decline re-election to this position in 1764, but would serve until 1765, when he refused to continue. By 1768, he was discharged from all tax liability resulting from uncollected taxes.

In 1761, he became friends with James Otis, who was the chief attorney for the colony. Otis would resign his position over writs of assistance that customs agents wanted him to enforce. Instead, he becomes an attorney for merchants who are smuggling goods to avoid paying customs duties. He was elected to the General Assembly, where he and Adams would work closely together until Otis’s retirement. He was also speaking and influencing his second cousin, John Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, and others, continually warning them to keep an eye on Great Britain and her political actions. He feared that even more interference would happen.

In the meantime, Adams found love, for a second time, with Elizabeth Wells, who was 24 years old. They married on December 6, 1764, and had no children. She was the fifth daughter of Francis Wells Esq., who arrived in Boston in 1723. She was described as educated, amiable, and well-mannered. They initially met in 1761, when she was 18, and began their courtship. They had similar convictions, and she does not mind his lack of interest in making money. He would only average about £100 per year and was content with this, even though he grew up wealthy. She was exceptionally good at managing money, and they wanted for very little. In fact, she was so good that when visitors came to the home on Purchase Street, they could not tell that the Adams were in dire financial straits. Because of those financial problems, he would often be offered bribes, but he never took one.

Sometime after they were married, Elizabeth was presented with a slave named Surry. As told by Mrs. Mary Avery, Adams stated, “A slave cannot live in my house. If she comes, she must be free.”[7]  He freed Surry, and she lived with the family for the rest of her life. The Adamses would spend their entire married life in the Purchase Street home, which would be partially destroyed by British troops when they left the city. The home is no longer standing, but a plaque marks its location.

In 1764, he also met Dr. Joseph Warren, to whom he took his children to get the smallpox vaccine. He encourages Dr. Warren to get involved in politics and becomes a paternal figure to the doctor. Dr. Warren’s father passed away when he was 13. Because of this visit, Adam’s son, Samuel, (who ironically was also 13 at this time) develops an interest in medicine at the time.

While he began his political activism much earlier than the other Founders, his career really heated up in 1764, when the Sugar Act was passed. There was not much of a fuss over this initially, and Adams was the only one speaking about it. He feels he must speak out about it since no one had been chosen to represent the colonies in Parliament before this tax was passed. The English are espousing the idea of virtual representation, at this time, which Adams heartedly opposed. He speaks with Otis and Oxenbridge Thatcher and advises them that if they do nothing, there will be more taxation. As a result, the current system of self-government would be rendered meaningless. He still lacks broader influence because he was a local activist. But he begins to recruit other merchants to his cause.

In the spring of 1764, he came up with a plan. He argues in many of his speeches against the Grenville Taxes. He states that Parliament levies the taxes, rather than colonial assemblies. And that they had to protect the right to self-govern, as this was directly linked to freedom. His speeches would spark anger over the Sugar Act. He pens letters to other colonial leaders using economic arguments to bring them to his side. He notes that this act will hurt the economy by slowing growth. This would be detrimental to both countries because Americans still purchased an overwhelming majority of their items from Britain. This idea of increased taxes leading to lower growth would also be used as an argument by Adam Smith in his piece The Wealth of Nations, some 13 years later.

At this time, he calls for the colonies to unite in opposition to Great Britain on taxes and the lack of representation in Parliament. He would write a 1500-word essay on the issues at hand, and it was widely read. He then wrote the instructions for the Boston representatives to the General Assembly. James Otis would present the instructions to the Assembly, and they were approved. On approval of these instructions, the Governor dissolves the Assembly. The instructions had called for a Colonial Congress. He would go on to frame the debate over the Sugar Act as a civil rights issue. The rebellion over the Sugar Act was a little ironic because the tax itself was only £100,000, and the money was stipulated to stay in the colonies to cover administration costs.[8] The British are unable to counter his claims. He then pushes for a boycott of goods and meets with local Merchants in August 1764, convincing them to stop importing British goods and cancel orders. He was convinced this would lead British merchants to call for a repeal of the Sugar Act. He even convinces silversmiths and blacksmiths to join in the boycott, which spreads across the colonies. The Sugar Act would be repealed in 1766.

From 1765 to 1774, Adams was an active member of the Massachusetts General Assembly, first as a clerk and then as a representative from Boston. As the clerk, he would draft most of the official papers. When the Stamp Act was enacted, he got the merchants to continue their boycott of goods. He stirs the populace up again by telling them that this act amounted to servitude. The people rise up and denounce it, and agents are being threatened. Adams begins yet another plan to defeat the Stamp Act. He wants to call for another Colonial Congress and decided that James Otis must do this. However, the problem was that Otis was starting to show signs of mental illness due to being beaten over the head. He wrote the instructions and had Otis present them, after which the House once again passed the proposal and sent letters to all the other colonial legislatures. Governor Bernard shut down the Assembly to prevent the letters from going out, but he was too late. Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson was not worried, though, because he did not believe the colonies would unite. Adams was worried because Lt. Governor Hutchinson opposed the radical scheme to defeat enforcement of the Stamp Act and did not mind letting the people know. It would result in his townhome being attacked, and he and his family have to flee. The townhouse was eventually burned down.

A Stamp Act Congress was called, and the initial reaction was disappointing. New Jersey and New Hampshire declined to attend, the Virginia governor refusing to call the Assembly and the Maryland governor saying the issue would go away. But by August 2, South Carolina fully supports it, and the other colonies begin to join in. [9] This is a shining achievement for Adams, as it ensures that his ideas will be discussed throughout the colonies, particularly in the areas where the unfair taxation occurred. Debates spring up all over the colonies. However, protests mar the effort with marches, hangings of effigies, and an attack on the home of Andrew Oliver, the Stamp Act Agent for Massachusetts. He would resign the very next day. The people who attacked his home were part of a small group that had separated from the larger protest. Adams does not agree with the destruction of property. He was trying to maintain a moral high ground and realized that the protests must be organized and carefully orchestrated with a purpose. There must be “petitions, boycotts and well-designed campaigns,”[10] if this cause was going to succeed. This one man’s mission, to warn about the stranglehold that excessive taxes would have on the colonies, was now beginning, and it would sow the seeds that would bloom into the American Revolution.

With Oxenbridge Thatcher’s departure from the General Assembly, Adams was elected to fill his seat. He wins during the second round of balloting, 265 to 183 votes.[11] He was extremely busy during this time, serving on various committees and lobbying in London to repeal the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but it was followed by the Declaratory Act, which asserted that the colonies were under the complete control of Parliament. But there was a bright spot in 1766, when Adams successfully recruited John Hancock to the patriot side, and Hancock was elected to the General Assembly. Adams knows that this recruitment will send an important message to London because Hancock was a wealthy and successful merchant. In addition, Adams knows how to manage Hancock’s personality, especially around 1770, when John Hancock decides to leave politics over perceived insults, and Adams convinces him to stay involved. Throughout their lifelong friendship, they would have occasional falling-outs, but it endured. After one of their first falling outs, they reconciled, and John Hancock commissioned the famous John Singleton Copley to paint portraits of himself and Samuel Adams. Both portraits would hang in Hancock Manor for 50 years, until they were given to the City of Boston and moved to Faneuil Hall.

Recruiting John Hancock was a win for the Patriots’ side in Samuel Adams’ eyes. However, next year brought a setback with the passage of the Townshend Acts. These acts imposed a £40,000 tax increase on the colonies.[12] 

In 2015 dollars, that would amount to about $6,853,528.60 [13] in additional taxes. It does not sound like a large tax increase, since we currently have approximately 331 million people in the country. Spread out over that many people, it amounts to about 2¢ per person. But using census estimates from between 1765 and 1770,[14] we can estimate that about 2,276,000 people would be affected by the tax, which now amounts to $3.01 (in modern dollars). Although it was a small amount of tax, it was not about the amount of the tax but rather the fact that it was imposed on the colonists by Parliament rather than by their own colonial legislatures.

Samuel Adams kept doing what he knew best, continuing to use the media to state his case to the other colonies. He knows the press was critical of the cause, but this does not stop him. One of his writings includes the quote “Such a power under a corrupt administration, it is to be feared, would introduce an absolute government in America; at best, it would leave the people in a state of utter uncertainty of their security, which is far from being a state of civil liberty.”[15] He insists it was Britain that was disrupting foreign relations and not the colonies. 

After the arrival of British troops in 1768, he began to confide to others that his mission was to make America independent of Britain and that he was dedicating his life to it. During this time, the merchants continue to openly defy the customs agents who are acting under the Townshend Acts. By 1769, all duties were rescinded, except for the tax on tea. Parliament did this to show its right to tax the colonies. At this time, Governor Bernard was recalled, and Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson took his place. He was no friend to the patriot cause.

By 1770, the Boston Massacre had happened, and Samuel Adams was once again in the thick of things. In conjunction with other selectmen, he demands that troops be moved out of Boston, and Governor Hutchinson acquiesces. He then works to make sure that the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre get a fair trial. He convinced John Adams and Josiah Quincy to take the case, and they were successful in getting the soldiers acquitted. In 1771, he proposed the Committees of Correspondence to counter the shutdown of colonial assemblies. He was not sure how to accomplish this, so he went back to his old standby of writing and published an article that was reprinted throughout the colonies, which laid out the foundation of the fight for freedom and why the colonists must engage in this fight. This article achieves the results that Adams desired – the people are talking and debating again. The first meeting of the Boston Committee of Correspondence takes place on November 2, 1772. It was the beginning of numerous committees that began to form around the colonies.

On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams led a meeting at Faneuil Hall, where approximately 7000 people attended from 10 am to 6 pm. They send the proprietor of the Dartmouth to ask the governor if his ship can leave. The Governor refuses to let him leave before his cargo of tea is unloaded. Allegedly, that’s when Adams says, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” It was a signal to the men to board the ships and destroy the tea.[16]  It is unknown who actually participated in the Boston Tea Party that night, as all the men were sworn to secrecy.

He was sent to the Continental Congress in 1774, and during that session, he signed the Articles of Association. He resigned from the Massachusetts Assembly to focus his energies on Congress. He was with John Hancock at Hancock’s childhood home on the night of April 18, 1775. Paul Revere arrived at about midnight on April 19 to warn them that the British were approaching. Paul Revere would visit the house one more time that night to urge Adams and Hancock to leave. The delay was due to Hancock’s refusal to run, and they would finally leave, before dawn, and escape across the fields to Woburn, MA. By this time, there was a bounty on both their heads, and they were pursued on orders of General Gage, who was desperate to capture them. In May 1775, he would be re-elected to the Continental Congress.

While in Congress, he seconded the nomination of George Washington to become Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. He signed the Olive Branch Petition and actively pushed for independence, and he endorsed, voted for, and signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. But when Congress had to move to Lancaster, he traveled with a group that had become despondent and gloomy about the war. He listens to what they have to say and then tells them he is surprised that they are so despondent about the situation. He goes on to say, “Indeed, indeed, it is desperate if this be our language. If we wear long faces, others will do so too; if we despair, let us not expect that others will hope; or that they will persevere in contest, from which their leaders shrink. But let not such feelings, let not such language, be ours.”[17]  Throughout the dark and gloomy times, as well as the good, his goal was independence. He never wavered once. He would continue to serve in Congress until 1781, was part of the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation, and signed them as well.

His later years would be filled with many political activities and family life. He was a member of the Convention to form a new state constitution and part of the committee that drafted it between 1779 and 1780. He was elected to the Senate in 1781 and served until 1788. He was elected President of the Senate in 1787. He was a delegate to the Massachusetts ratifying Convention for the U.S. Constitution in 1788. In 1789, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and served until 1793. He retired from public life in 1797. In his old age, he delighted in retelling the years leading up to the Revolution and the Revolution itself to anyone who asked. He was a devout Puritan, beloved by his family, who understood him the best.

On October 2, 1793, he passed away and is buried in the Old Granary Bury Grounds near the site of the Boston Massacre. The death of his son had relieved the family of their financial burdens, preventing his burial from being done through a charity or at the expense of the public.

Tidbits

Described as being of medium height, muscular build, and having grey eyes.

Was an excellent writer and speaker when needed, and was known as the Father of the Revolution. Jefferson would call him “truly the Man of the Revolution.”

The only time he leaves Massachusetts is to attend the Continental Congress.

He had a lifelong palsy affliction that showed itself when he got excited.

His cousin, John Adams, was always trying to convince him to put his papers together for posterity, but he never did and actually burned some of his correspondence.

[1] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution / Mark Puls. (New York, N.Y., Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

[2] It is important to note that when he received his M.A. from Harvard, George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Dr. Joseph Warren, and John Hancock were all children, while Thomas Jefferson, Elbridge Gerry, and Josiah Quincy were either infants or had not yet been born.

[3] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution / Mark Puls. (New York, N.Y. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 25

[4] Wells, William V. The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams: Being a Narrative of His Acts and Opinions, and of His Agency in Producing and Forwarding the American Revolution. With Extracts from His Correspondence, State Papers, and Political Essays, Volume 1 17

[5] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

[6] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 32

[7] Wells, William V. The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams: Being a Narrative of His Acts and Opinions, and of His Agency in Producing and Forwarding the American Revolution. With Extracts from His Correspondence, State Papers, and Political Essays, Volume 1, Pg. 138.

[8] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 42

[9] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan 2006) 49

[10] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 54

[11] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 54

[12] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 68

[13] https://www.minneapolisfed.org/community/teaching-aids/cpi-calculator-information/consumer-price-index-1800

[14] American Population Before the Federal Census of 1790 By Evarts Boutell Greene, Virginia Draper Harrington, Columbia University. Council for Research in the Social Sciences

[15] Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) 71

[16] Barthelmas, Della Gray. The Signers of The Declaration of Independence: A Biographical and Genealogical Reference (Jefferson, NC, London, McFarland, 2003) 20

[17] “Biographical Sketch of Samuel Adams” Atkinson's Casket (1831‑1839) (09, 1832), 385.