Happy Birthday Mr. President – Honoring John Adams

November 3, 2009 by Ben Edwards 

adamsreenactOn Friday October 30, there was a ceremony at United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts celebrating the 274th birthday of President John Adams. United First Parish Church is also known as The Church of the Presidents because a tomb beneath the church contains the remains of our second president John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams; and their son, our sixth president John Quincy Adams and his wife Louisa Catherine Adams. United First Parish Church is built of granite from the Adams family property donated by John Adams. It was completed in 1828. There is a pew inside where President John Quincy Adams and future generations of the Adams family have sat. View the interior of the church. During the ceremony for John Adams, speeches were given and the crew of USS Constitution was in attendance. On behalf of the President of the United States, sailors from the ship participated in laying the Presidential Wreath sent by the White House on the granite sarcophagus of President John Adams. A similar Presidential Wreath-laying ceremony occurred on July 11, the 242nd birthday of President John Quincy Adams. The tradition of sending flowers/wreaths to mark the birthdays of deceased former presidents was begun in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson.

The Presidential Wreath on the sarcophagus of President John Adams and the sarcophagus of Abigail Adams to the right (left image).The Adams Tomb with the sarcophaguses of President John Adams, Abigail Adams, President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams (right image).

The Presidential Wreath on the sarcophagus of President John Adams and the sarcophagus of Abigail Adams to the right (left image).The Adams Tomb with the sarcophaguses of President John Adams, Abigail Adams, President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams (right image).

The ceremony had special meaning for the crew of USS Constitution. President Adams had attended the launching ceremony for the ship on September 20, 1797. On that day, USS Constitution moved only a short distance and it wasn’t until a third attempt on October 21, 1797 that the ship finally settled into Boston Harbor. On April 30, 1798, President Adams signed an act establishing the Department of the Navy and on May 18, he nominated Benjamin Stoddert as the first Secretary of the Navy. This primary source document signed by Adams indicates that fact. Because of this, John Adams is sometimes referred to as “the Father of the United States Navy”.

On the same day that I visited the Adams Tomb and saw the Presidential Wreath, I headed out to Peace field – the home where Abigail Adams and her “dearest friend” John celebrated many birthdays together from 1788 until Abigail’s death in 1818. John Adams died on July 4, 1826 — the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On my trip to Peace field, I unexpectedly ran into the President (pictured in this post). Our conversation took us back to younger days, like his 64th birthday, a mere 210 years ago. You can read the news of how that birthday was reported in this original article from the October 30, 1799 issue of the Columbian Centinel and Massachusetts Federalist. By the time our brief talk ended, I was even more certain of one thing – I really do admire John Adams. Happy Birthday Mr. President.

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