John and Abigail Adams: The Only Document We Have Ever Had Signed by Both

Signed more than once at the end and in the body of the document

 

An iconic president/first lady combination in American history

 

They sell family land left Abigail by a Quincy relative to her cousin, Cotton Tufts, Jr.

John Adams and Abigail Adams are two significant figures of the American Revolutionary era. John Adams spent much of his life in service to his country. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, an officially appointed diplomat (who served as a commissioner in France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, and minister to the Court of St. James), and president of the United States. Abigail (Smith) Adams proved to be an extremely resourceful partner to John Adams. While he was away on numerous political assignments, she raised their children, managed their farm, and stayed abreast of current events during one of the country’s most turbulent times. The many letters she sent to John Adams demonstrate her perceptive comments about the Revolution, including comments on women’s rights. Then during his presidency she was first lady, and is considered one of the most important to hold that title.

Partly printed Autograph Document Signed (“John Adams” and “Abigail Adams”), with nearly all the handwriting aside from Abigail’s being John’s, Norfolk, Mass., April 1, 1803, being a transfer of title of family property in Braintree Massachusetts to Cotton Tufts, Jr.

Abigail Adams (nee Smith) was the youngest daughter of the Reverend William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy, connecting the family of the second and sixth Presidents of the United States with the storied Quincy family of Massachusetts. Norton Quincy (1716-1801) was the uncle of Abigail Adams, and although married, he had no children. His lands thus passed to Abigail as the oldest of her generation. This deed records the sale of all or part of those lands to Cotton Tufts, Jr., who was a cousin of Abigail, for the sum of $200. Tufts was the postmaster of his home town of Weymouth.

The document states, in Adams’ hand, that “I John Adams of Quincy in the county of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Esq., and Abigail the wife of the said John in her right”, in consideration of “Two Hundred Dollars paid by Cotton Tufts, Junior of Weymouth in said county, Gentleman” do convey to said “Cotton Tufts, Junior, and his heirs and assigns one undivided Ninth Part, being all the rights, title and interest of the said Abigail in a piece of Cedar Swamp, lying and being in Braintree in the County of Norfolk in Hobart’s Swamp so called, the same being part of the estate left by Norton Quincy Esquire lately deceased…”

Later in the document the Adamses covenant that they own the property and have the right to sell and convey it to Tufts. At the bottom both John and Abigail have signed. The document was witnessed by Frederick Billing and Cyrus Thomas, who had witnessed other documents for Adams.

This document is so appealing because it contains so much of John’s handwriting, relates to family land Abigail had inherited from one of her Quincy relatives, and most importantly contains the signatures of John and Abigail Adams on the same sheet. We have never before seen a document signed by both.