First Lady Portrait Art: Abigail Adams Print

Designed by graphic artist Meneese Wall, this beautiful portrait and accompanying biography recognizes First Lady Abigail Adams.

Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She married John Adams on October 25, 1764, and gave birth to six children, four survived to adulthood. When her husband was away for long periods of time for his work, Abigail ran their households and raised their children. The couple corresponded throughout these years and letters reveal her opinions, wit, and love for her husband. She accompanied John Adams to diplomatic posts in France and Great Britain, and once he became vice president in 1789, she moved with him to the nation's temporary capitals in New York and then to Philadelphia, where they remained during the first years of Adams's presidency. Once the new White House was habitable in November 1800, President and Mrs. Adams moved to the new Federal City.  The first lady to reside at the Executive Mansion, Mrs. Adams held dinners and receptions during her short time in the new residence. After Thomas Jefferson defeated her husband in the election of 1800, the Adamses retired to their home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Abigail Adams passed away from typhoid fever on October 28, 1818, at the age of seventy-three. Her eldest son, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth president of the United States from 1825 to 1829.