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Primary sourceDocument15 January 1807

Signed Check by John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams · 15 January 1807

A personal bank check from 1807 signed by John Quincy Adams while he was a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.

This signed check is a personal financial record from Adams's own hand, written while he was a U.S. Senator.

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Scan of a handwritten bank check dated 15 January 1807, made out to Nathaniel Blanchard for ten dollars and 82/100, signed John Quincy Adams, drawn on the Office of Discount and Deposit in Boston and Washington. Ink is brown on aged paper with a decorative border on the left.
Signed check by John Quincy Adams, 15 January 1807. National Museum of American History.

About this source

What it is

This is a handwritten bank check dated 15 January 1807, made out to Nathaniel Blanchard for ten dollars and eighty-two cents. It is signed by John Quincy Adams and drawn on the Office of Discount and Deposit in Boston and Washington. The check is held by the National Museum of American History.

Why it matters

At the time this check was written, Adams was serving as a United States Senator from Massachusetts, years before his presidency. Everyday financial records like this one offer historians a glimpse into the ordinary personal transactions of a public figure, separate from his political speeches and official papers.

Look closer

  • What does this small, everyday object tell you about Adams that a speech or letter might not?
  • Why might a museum choose to preserve something as ordinary as a check?
  • What questions does this document leave unanswered about who Nathaniel Blanchard was and why Adams paid him?

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

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