Charles Adams (May 29, 1770 – November 30, 1800) was the second son of the second United States president, John Adams, and his wife, Abigail Adams (née Smith). He was also the younger brother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams.[1]
Early life
When Charles was a child, a smallpox epidemic broke out, killing many. Charles and his family were inoculated for the disease. He and his younger brother Thomas were not showing the expected response, so they both had the procedure done a few more times. His mother, Abigail Adams, his younger brother Thomas and older brother John Quincy had mild symptoms, but he and his older sister Nabby were both very sick, though both recovered within weeks.
At the age of nine, he traveled with his father and older brother, John Quincy, to Europe, studying in Passy, Amsterdam, and Leiden. He matriculated in Leiden on January 29, 1781.[2][3] In December 1781, 11-year-old Charles returned to America unaccompanied by family members. He had been feeling homesick. In 1784, Abigail and Nabby moved to England to live with John Adams, who was working there at the time. John Quincy would join them later.
College
In June of 1789, while attending Harvard College, where he began at age 15 in 1785, Charles and his friends got into a scrape for drinking heavily and running naked through Harvard Yard.[citation needed] One of his friends was expelled.[citation needed] This night was the first recorded case of Primal Scream.[citation needed] John Quincy and Thomas would later attend Harvard after Charles.[citation needed]
On August 29, 1795, Adams married Sarah "Sally" Smith (1769–1828), the sister of his brother-in-law, William Stephens Smith. They had two daughters, Susanna Boylston (1796–1884) and Abigail Louisa Smith (1798–1836). Abigail married the banker and philosopher Alexander Bryan Johnson (1786–1867) and their son, Alexander Smith Johnson (1817–1878), became a judge. At the age of 37, Abigail Louisa died of uterine cancer.[6]
Adams was an alcoholic who engaged in extramarital relationships and made questionable financial decisions. He was disowned by his father and sometimes lived apart from his family.[7]
Death
It is a common myth that Adams, who died on November 30, 1800, died of cirrhosis, a disease often caused by alcoholism. In a letter from Abigail to John Quincy after his death, she stated Adams died in New York City of "dropsy of the chest" or pleurisy.[8][9] Pleurisy can be caused by a multitude of respiratory diseases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and cancer. He was the first child of a president to die while the president was in office. He was 30 years old.
In popular culture
In 2008, HBO presented the miniseries entitled John Adams based on the book by David McCullough. The biographical presentation depicts John Adams as a neglectful father to Charles and suggests that the elder Adams' failures as a father negatively influenced Charles' development. Historians have pointed out the inaccuracies of the series' representation of their relationship.[10]
^Album Studiosorum Academiae Lugduno Batavae MDLXXV-MDCCCLXXV, kol. 1136.
^Index to English speaking students who have graduated at Leyden university / by Edward Peacock, F.S.A. - London : For the Index society, by Longmans, Green & co. 1883, p. 2, 1136.
^Kaplan, Fred (2014). John Quincy Adams: American Visionary. New York: HarperCollins. p. 100. ISBN9780061915413.
