Letter from John Quincy Adams spelling out father’s burial wishes is found in Mass. city hall

John Quincy Adams letter found in Mass. city hall

QUINCY, Mass. — A letter penned by the nation’s sixth president, John Quincy Adams, has been found in a dusty box in a Massachusetts city hall’s basement.

The letter, dated Sept. 8, 1826, outlines the burial wishes of his father, John Adams, the nation’s second president. It was recently discovered by a city attorney who was combing through some old records in Quincy City Hall.

John Quincy Adams wrote that his father, who had died two months earlier, and his mother, Abigail Adams, wished to be buried in the First Parish Church, and that a “plain and modest monument” be built in their memory.

John and Abigail Adams are buried in the basement of the church, as are John Quincy Adams and his wife.

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch plans to have the letter preserved and put on public display.