Show 31 I 1 T abr an t ar pov 1 0 s 0 T I 1 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON vr knows that george washington E was the father of ills bla country but how many canny know that a man three years younger than wash lugton ington was the grandfather of ills country paradoxical though such a statement may be yet there la Is some justification for giving that title as a a recent biographer of john adams does to the man who was born to la Brain trL e mass on october 30 1735 just years ago tills this biographer calls adams the grandfather of ula ills country because he was the man who wu was primarily responsible for making washington commander ln in chief of the continental army thereby starting the virginian on the road which led to his becoming the 11 father lather 11 although the actual nomination of washington for that position was as made in the continental congress by thomas johnson of maryland yet it was adams who developed the sentiment which caused the nomination domination to be baratin ratin ed when congress urged thereto by adams adopted afie new england troops around 1116 boston ston as a continental army and began looking around for a commander in chief adams realized that the selection of any of the new england off leers for foe the post would be certain to result in an outbreak of inter colonval jealousies so he proposed that an outsider be brought in and suggested the name of the man who nho as a major in the virginia colonial forces had distinguished himself during the ill fated braddock expedition 20 0 years earlier not only would this accomplish its purpose of preventing III feung among the new englanders but as a compliment to virginia it would also guarantee more enthusiastic support of the revolutionary movement by the southern brethren the history of the revo gutlon Is ample proof of the wisdom of john adams and what a master stroke of diplomacy his suggestion turned out to be but his part in making washington coro com mander ceander ln in chiet was not the only factor in justifying bis big right to the title ot of grandfather of nis ills country another historian has summed up the other factors f as follows ills public services extended over a period of 25 years and in that crowded quarter of a century he contributed as much to the creation and development of his bis country try as any man of his time ue he was the sLi statesman elfman who formulated the political theories to blast parliamentary prerogatives he was waa the courageous patriot who forced a reluctant congress along the road to revolution and defended the declaration of independence he was the uncompromising diplomat who brought military and financial rid aid to the american cause wrested miraculously favorable terms from great britain and stubbornly protected american interests from the supposed machinations of wily european diplomats he was the solon who wrote the model constitution for massachusetts he fie was the president who heroically chose peace instead of f war ar with france and broke the power of the pernicious clique to this might be added these other facts he was among the first to recognize clearly that independence oi of the colonies was in inevitable evitable and union essential although thomas jefferson did the actual writing of the declaration of independence pende pen dence rim it contained many of the very principles which adams had been expounding day after day for two years sears he played an important part in establishing the american navy he be was one of the most vigorous defenders of the constitution after it was adopted he hada hand in giving to the nation the greatest interpreter of that constitution for he as aa president made john marshall chief justice of 0 the supreme court lie wasa prophet in forecasting the economic development of 0 the united states and in wishing to adapt the frame of government in the future to that basis and the general principles of a government tor for which he be stood have survived to this day and are still showing a great degreeff degree of influence it has become almost axiomatic that genius rarely it if ever transmits itself and that great fathers seldom beget great sons but john adams comes as near perhaps as any other american to being the exception which proves the rule role for his son john quincy adams kept up the standard set by his father and even advanced it and succeeding generations of the adams line have continued to advance it IL years ago some one made the statement that american bictory hl bi story ls Is all cluttered up with adamsey Ad amses and a decent historian has hag amplified this statement by declaring in america there Is one family and only one that generation after generation has consistently and without interruption made contributions of the highest order to our history and civilization so it Is further proof of the aptness of the grandfather title that john adams adama started those contributions the adams family was established in Ai america about when a certain henry adams probably because of a combination of religious and economic reasons decided to leave england and try hla his luck in the new world by chance he settled at a place called Brain braintree tree in massachusetts lie ile married and had children who in turn married and handed down the family name this went on for four generations without producing any man of distinction until we como come to john adams a farmer and shoemaker in Brain braintree tree who married susanna boylston daughter of a family prominent in the medical history of the colony then on october 30 IM 1735 there was born to john adams and susanna boylston adams a son to whom was aas given his fathers name with the fifth generation in the person of john adams historian publicist diplomat president of the united states the family not only suddenly achieves national and ano International position but maintains it in successive generations genera tlona for two to centuries so writes lames james truslow adams a virginia by tb theay the eay way and not related to the massachusetts clan in tits his book the adams family published by little brown and company of boston a few years ago was it due to tome some mysterious result from the combination of adams and boylston Hoyl ston blood fae far beyond the ken of science even today or to some unfathomable synchronism between the peculiar qualities ot of the adamsey and the whole serial docial atmosphere of the next few generations a subtle interplay of un unknown knon corces or to mere chance lu a universe lu in which atoms rush and collide 1 fas faa mo I 1 ha 4 JA 4 adarno wife of one Mothe 0 er t M I 1 wa 4 0 k athe the signing of the declaration of independence mcadams SC Adams 6 is uze the first figure figura at the ih left standing oil 4 me m e white houtie house 1801 as is the problem it Is insoluble all wa we shall see Is that without warning like a fault in the geologic record there Is a sudden and immense rise recorded in the psychical energy of the family As A a matter of tact fact there was not much in the early history of john joha adams to indicate the preeminence pre eminence that was tobe his ile he was as graduated from harvard college in 1755 1735 and for a time was principal of a grammar school at AVor worcester cester three years later he be began practicing law to in suffolk county and first became outstanding among his fellow citizens when at a town meet ingae was the author and mover of the notable stamp stam pact set resolutions moving to boston la in he was chosen cholea a representative to the general court two years later and in 1774 he be was made one of the delegates from massachusetts to the first contine continental antal congress upon his bis return he was made a member from Brain braintree tree to the provincial congress then lo in session and in 1775 he be became a member of the historic second continental congress within a year adams who was the most outspoken of the advocates of independence from the mother country became a leader in bringing that about with the same political sagacity which he had bad shown in having a virginian selected as head of the continental army he influenced another virginian richard henry lee to introduce in june 1776 the resolution for the sepi separation ration and lie he seconded that introduction when the resolution came up for debate lee was absent and adams was its chief defender for there were a number of delegates who still were in favor of patching up the colonies differences feren ces with england having promoted the idea of independence it was only natural that adams should be named oo on the committee of fire ave to draw up such a declaration thomas jefferson of virginia was chosen chairman of the committee which was composed of adams adama benjamin franklin of pennsylvania roger sherman of connecticut and robert R livingston of new york according to adams autobiography he be and jefferson were appointed by the committee to prepare a rough draft of the document and when jefferson proposed that adams write rite this draft he declined for the following reasons as he gives them 1 I that he was a virginian and I 1 a 2 that he was a southern man and I 1 was a northern one 3 that I 1 had been so obnoxious for my early and constant zeal in promoting the measure that every draft of mine would undergo a more severe scrutiny and criticism in congress than of tits his compost composition 4 and lastly and that would be reason enough it if there were no other I 1 had a great opinion of the elegance of his pen and none at all of my oun oan I 1 therefore insisted that oo no hesitation should be made on his part lie he accordingly took the min tiles and in a day or two produced to me his draft so john adams passed up his chance to be the a author of the declaration of independence and that honor fell to thomas jefferson among the other distinctions that belong to john adams Is the ruther rather dubious one that he was wa the father Fai lier of the noisy fourth I for after the conten continental con congress ress had adopted the leclar atlon of independence on july 2 1770 1776 adama wrote to his big wire wife the day will be the most memorable epoch la in the history of america I 1 ara am apt to bellevo believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to god almighty it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parades with shows games sports guns bells bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more adams part in bringing about the declaration of independence would have been enough to guarantee a rantee his bis immortality it if be had never done aby anything thing more but it was destined to be only the beginning of his service to the nation which he had bad helped he allied establish in the same year he was made chief justice of his big state but resigned the next year to become chairman of the board of war and ordnance in 1773 he was appointed com commissioner missioner to france to secure aid in the struggle for liberty and the next neit year ye ar tie he was appointed minister to negotiate a treaty with england in 1780 he be was sent to holland to negotiate a loan from that country and in the sale same year was made minister to holland with a special commission to sign the articles of armed neutrality recalled to paris in 1781 the following year he negotiated a loan of two millions IQ in holland and concluded a treaty of commerce and amity with the dutch next he acted as one of the commissioners in concluding the treaty of peace which ended the revolution and he became our first minister to the court of st james elected to the continental congress in 1788 he be was chosen the first vice president in our history in 1789 and was waa reelected elected re when washington was reelected president finally in 1790 1700 came the ell max of his big career when he became president of tho the united states after that his career was something of an antl anti ellmae for he proved to be a very unpopular president and was denied a second term after the adoption of the constitution and during daring his hl terms as vice president and president be and his friend thomas jefferson colleagues in the great work of writing the declaration of independence pen pea dence slowly drifted apart adams the federalist er alist was an advocate of a strong centralized government jefferson the republican strong in his faith in the wisdom of the people championed the cause of democracy and states rights embittered by his defeat by jefferson during the campaign of 1800 when lie he was a candidate for reelection election re adams clattered out of washington on that cold gray morning of march 4 1801 and returned to private life to his big farm and his friends and tits his books seated in an old armchair in tits his well stocked library he took up again tits his study of philosophy and history renewed his interrupted but never broken friendship with jefferson watched the dissolution of the federalist party with a certain grim satisfaction and thought much on religion and on death death came for him on on an historic day july 4 1820 1821 it was the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the declaration of riepen dence and a gala day throughout the land the people had wanted adams and jefferson to take part in their festivities lint but the tired old man he was ninety one la in Brain braintree tree mass could not leave tits home at 4 in the afternoon he died ills last words were ere thomas jefferson still aises lie ile did not know that tbt down in virginia another tired old man of eighty three had already slipped quietly into an endless sleep utter after asking doctor Is it the fourth yet it was vas then just an hour after midnight 6 0 western newspaper union |