First Family by Joseph J. Ellis Page B

1981); Phyllis Lee Levin,
Abigail Adams: A Biography
(New York, 1987); and Edith Gelles,
Portia: The World of Abigail Adams
(Bloomington, 1992). A new biography by Woody Holton,
Abigail Adams
(New York, 2009), appeared just in time to influence my final draft.
    Because the relationship between Abigail and John was so seamless, any biographer of one almost automatically ends up writing about both. And all the biographers mentioned above do just that. But there is a difference between a biographer who leans in the direction of the partner and a historian of the partnership itself. I aspire for the latter.
    …
    P.S.—While this book was being copyedited, a study appeared of the Adams partnership, entitled
Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage
(New York, 2009), by Edith B. Gelles. Gelles is a distinguished student of Abigail and a friend. I look forward to comparing her version of the story with mine.
ABBREVIATIONS
TITLES
AFC
Lyman H. Butterfield et al., eds.,
Adams Family Correspondence
, 9 vols. to date (Cambridge, Mass., 1963–).
AJ
Lester G. Cappon, ed.,
The Adams-Jefferson Letters
, 2 vols. (Chapel Hill, 1959).
AP
The Microfilm Edition of the Adams Papers
, 608 reels (Boston, 1954–59).
DA
Lyman H. Butterfield et al., eds.,
The Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
, 4 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1961).
EDJA
Lyman H. Butterfield, ed.,
The Earliest Diary of John Adams
(Cambridge, Mass., 1966).
HP
Harold Syrett, ed.,
The Papers of Alexander Hamilton
, 26 vols. (New York, 1974–92).
JCC
Worthington C. Ford, ed.,
The Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789
, 34 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1904–37).
JM
James Morton Smith, ed.,
The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776–1826
, 3 vols. (New York, 1995).
JP
Julian Boyd et al., eds.,
The Papers of Thomas Jefferson
, 28 vols. to date (Princeton, 1950–).
NEQ
New England Quarterly
PA
Robert J. Taylor et al., eds.,
The Papers of John Adams
, 11 vols. to date (Cambridge, Mass., 1983–).
UFC
Unpublished correspondence of the Adams family transcribed by the editors of the
Adams Papers
.
WMQ
William and Mary Quarterly
, 3rd series.
Works
Charles Francis Adams, ed.,
The Works of John Adams
, 10 vols. (Boston, 1850–60).
PERSONS
AA
Abigail Adams
AA(2)
Abigail Adams Smith
AS
Abigail Smith (before marriage to John)
CA
Charles Adams
CFA
Charles Francis Adams
JA
John Adams
JQA
John Quincy Adams
LCA
Louisa Catherine Adams
TBA
Thomas Boylston Adams
TJ
Thomas Jefferson
WSS
William Stephens Smith
CHAPTER ONE . 1759–74
    1.
DA
1:108.
    2.
DA
1:109, for the derogatory quotation about the Smith sisters.
    3. JA to AS, 4 October 1762,
AFC
1:2.
    4. JA to AS, 14 February 1763,
AFC
1:3.
    5. AS to JA, 11 August 1763,
AFC
1:6.
    6. JA to AS, 30 December 1761,
AFC
1:1; AS to JA, 12 September 1763,
AFC
1:8.
    7. AS to JA, 19 April 1764,
AFC
1:44–46; JA to AS, 9 May 1764,
AFC
1:46–47.
    8. AS to JA, 4 October 1764,
AFC
1:50–51.
    9.
DA
3:256–61, for John’s autobiographical account of his family history and childhood.
    10. All of John’s biographers cover these early years, but see David McCullough,
John Adams
(New York, 2001), 37–53, for the most recent and comprehensive account.
    11.
DA
3:272–76, for the start of his legal career and the decision to delay marriage.
    12. Phyllis Lee Levin,
Abigail Adams: A Biography
(New York, 1987), 3–9.
    13.
DA
1:21.
    14.
DA
1:26–27, 57.
    15.
DA
1:63, 95.
    16.
DA
1:6–8.
    17.
DA
1:13–14.
    18.
DA
1:25.
    19.
DA
1:33.
    20.
EDJA
, 73; John Ferling and Lewis E. Braverman, “John Adams’s Health Reconsidered,” (January 1998), 82–104.
    21. Edith B. Gelles, “The Abigail Industry,”
WMQ
45 (October 1988), 656–83, for a cogent assessment of the scholarly literature on Abigail’s primary identity as a traditional wife and mother.
    22. For Abigail’s upbringing, I find Lynn Withey,
Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams
(New York, 1981), 1–10, most sensible. The “wild colts”