Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas. Page: 43 of 1,110
vii, 9-1011 p. incl. ill., ports. : ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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yOHN tUINCr ADAMS.
no clients, but not a moment was lost. The
second year passed away, still no clients,
and still he was dependent upon his parents
for support. Anxiously he awaited the
third year. The reward now came. Clients
began to enter his office, and before
the end of the year he was so crowded
with business that all solicitude respecting
a support was at an end.
When Great Britain commenced war
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote
some articles, urging entire neutrality on
the part of the United States. The view
was not a popular one. Many felt that as
France had helped us, we were bound to
help France. But President Washington
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his
proclamation of neutrality. His writings
at this time in the Boston journals gave
him so high a reputation, that in June,
1794, he was appointed by Washington
resident Minister at the Netherlands. In
July, 1797, he left The Hague to go to Portugal
as Minister Plenipotentiary. Washington
at this time wrote to his father, John
Adams:
" Without intending to compliment the
father or the mother, or to censure any
others, I give it as my decided opinion,
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable character
we have abroad; and there remains
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the
ablest of our diplomatic corps."
On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival
in London, he met with dispatches directing
him to the court of Berlin, but requesting
him to remain in London until he should
receive instructions. While waiting he
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson,
to whom he had been previously engaged.
Miss Johnson was a daughter of
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul
in London, and was a lady endowed with
that beauty and those accomplishments
which fitted her to move in the elevated
sphere for which she was destined.In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the purposes
of his mission, Mr. Adams returned.
In I802 he was chosen to the Senate of
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was
elected Senator of the United States for six
years from March 4, I804. His reputation,
his ability and his experience, placed him
immediately among the most prominent
and.influential members of that body. He
sustained the Government in its measures
of resistance to the encroachments of England,
destroying our commerce and insulting
our flag. There was no man in America
more familiar -with the arrogance of the
British court upon these points, and no
one more resolved to present a firm resistance.
This course, so truly patriotic, and
which scarcely a voice will now be found
to condemn, alienated him from the Federal
party dominant in Boston, and subjected
him to censure.
In I805 Mr. Adams was chosen professor
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lectures
at this place were subsequently published.
In I809 he was sent as Minister to
Russia. He was one of the commissioners
that negotiated the treaty of peace with
Great Britain, signed December 24, 1814,
and he was appointed Minister to the court
of St. James in I815. In 1817 he became
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet
in which position he remained eight years.
Few will now contradict the assertion that
the duties of that office were never more
ably discharged. Probably the most important
measure which Mr. Adams conducted
was the purchase of Florida from
Spain for $5,000,000.
The campaign of 1824 was an exciting
one. Four candidates were in the field.
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast,
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H.
Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Clay,
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by
the people, the question went to the House
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Lewis Publishing Company. Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas., book, 1892; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20932/m1/43/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Public Library.