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Primary sourceArtifact1731

Peacefield

1731

The Quincy, Massachusetts home where John Adams and his wife Abigail lived from 1788 until his death, now part of Adams National Historical Park.

Abigail Adams enlarged and ran this house from 1788 until her death, managing it largely on her own.

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A large white clapboard colonial house with black shutters, dormer windows, and a tall brick chimney, its walls partly covered in green ivy, set behind a flower and shrub garden on a sunny day.
Peacefield (the Old House), Quincy, Massachusetts. Adams National Historical Park.

About this source

What it is

Peacefield, also called the Old House, is a historic home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Built in 1731, it was bought in 1787 by agents for John Adams while he served as U.S. Minister to Britain. Adams and his wife Abigail Adams moved in in 1788 and lived there, with Abigail managing and expanding the house while Adams served as vice president and president. It later housed John Quincy Adams and his family too, and is now part of the Adams National Historical Park.

Why it matters

The house and its Stone Library preserve Adams's retirement years and the Adams family's long involvement in American political and intellectual life. The property's earlier history also connects it to Leonard Vassall, a sugar plantation owner, and to enslaved people named in his will, Pompey and Fidelia, showing a very different side of the estate's past.

Look closer

  • What does the house's history before the Adamses tell us about wealth and labor in colonial Massachusetts?
  • How did Abigail Adams shape the house while John Adams was away serving in government?
  • Why might a family's home, rather than official documents, help us understand their daily life?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Abigail Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Oil portrait of a woman in a white lace bonnet and sheer white lace shawl over a dark red dress, seated with her hands folded, against a dark background. She has curly hair at the temples and looks toward the viewer.Painting

Primary source

Abigail Smith Adams (Mrs. John Adams)

Gilbert Stuart · 1807

Scan of the engrossed Declaration of Independence on aged parchment. Heading reads 'In Congress, July 4, 1776' with the title 'The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America' below. Dense handwritten text fills the page; signatures appear at the bottom.Document

Primary source

Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

Dark red cloth book cover with a white Library of Congress label bearing the words LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, a barcode, the number 00027912114, and a red dot. The cover has no title visible.Letter

Primary source

Letter from Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 24 June 1785

Abigail Adams · 24 June 1785

Handwritten invitation card on yellowed paper. Printed-style text reads 'The President of the United States requests the Pleasure of Mr & Mrs Bailys Company to Dine, on Thursday next, at 4 o'Clock', dated Jan 1 1801, 'An answer is requested.' 'Mrs Adams' is written at top right.Document

Primary source

White House Dinner Invitation, 1801

Abigail Adams · 1 January 1801

Black-and-white reproduction of a pastel-style portrait of a woman in a tall, pleated white bonnet with a dark lace-edged brim, a white lace-trimmed fichu over her shoulders, against a dark background. She looks toward the viewer with a slight, closed-mouth expression.Painting

Primary source

Abigail Smith Adams (Sharples portrait)

James Sharples · 1790s

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