Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (1775-1852)

U.S. Presidential First Lady. She was the wife of John Quincy Adams, who was the 6th U.S. President. One of 8 children, her father was an American merchant and her mother was from England. She was raised in London, England and Nantes, France where her family had taken refuge during the American Revolutionary War. In 1794, she met John Quincy Adams in London, where her father had been appointed U.S. Consul General and they were married three years later, and she accompanied him to Berlin after he was appointed the U.S. Minister to Prussia. During their marriage, she was frequently ill, plagued by migraine headaches and frequent fainting spells. In 1809, she travelled to St. Petersburg, Russia to join her husband, who was serving as the first U.S. Minister to Russia. In 1817, she moved with her family to Washington, D.C. as her husband was appointed to the position of Secretary of State by U.S. President James Monroe. When her husband was elected as the U.S. President in 1825, she became dismayed by the bitter politics of the election and coupled with bouts of deep depression, she soon became reclusive. While living in the White House during her husband's four-year term, she wrote many essays and poems concerning anti-slavery and pro-women views and translated a number of major books from French to English. Along with Dolly Madison, the wife of the 4th U.S. President James Madison, she helped to raise funds for the future construction of the Washington Monument. Later, the untimely deaths of her two oldest sons (George in 1829 from an apparent suicide and John in 1834 from alcoholism) added to her depression. After the death of her husband in 1848 at the U.S. Capitol Building, where he had served as a Massachusetts congressman for 17 years, she remained in Washington, D.C. until her death at the age of 77.

Bio by: William Bjornstad

Inscription

ALTERI SECULO
A · Ω
Near this Place
Reposes all that could die of
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
Son of John and Abigail [Smith] Adams,
Sixth President of the United States.
Born 11 July, 1767.
Amidst the Storms of civil Commotion
He nursed the Vigor
Which nerves a Statesman and a Patriot,
And the Faith
Which inspires a Christian.
For more than half a Century,
Whenever his Country called for his Labors,
In either Hemisphere or in any Capacity,
He never spared them in her Cause.
On the twentyfourth of December, 1814,
He signed the second Treaty with Great Britain,
Which restored Peace within her Borders.
On the twenty-third of February, 1848,
He closed sixteen years of eloquent Defence
Of the Lessons of his Youth,
By dying at his Post
In her great national Council.
A Son, worthy of his Father,
A Citizen, shedding glory on his Country,
A Scholar, ambitious to advance Mankind,
This Christian sought to walk humbly
In the Sight of his God.
Beside him lies
His Partner for fifty Years,
LOUISA CATHERINE,
Daughter of Joshua and Catherine [Nuth] Johnson.
Born, 12 February, 1775,
Married, 26 July, 1797,
Deceased, 15 May, 1852,
Aged 77.
Living through many Vicissitudes, and
Under high Responsibilities,
As a Daughter, Wife and Mother,
She proved equal to all.
Dying, she left to her Family and her Sex
The blessed Remembrance
Of a 'Woman that feareth the Lord'.
"HEREIN IS THAT SAYING TRUE, ONE SOWETH AND ANOTHER REAPETH. I SENT YOU TO REAP THAT WHEREON
YE BESTOWED NO LABOR, OTHER MEN LABORED, AND YE ARE ENTERED INTO THEIR LABORS."

LOUISA CATHERINE ADAMS
FRAIL OF BODY, SIMPLE IN TASTES, AND RETIRING IN NATURE,
SHE FILLED THE ONEROUS POSITIONS TO WHICH IT PLEASED GOD
TO ASSIGN HER, WITH GRACE, DIGNITY AND FORTITUDE.
1775 - 1852
THE ABIGAIL PHILLIPS QUINCY CHAPTER DAUGHTERS
OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION CAUSED
THIS TABLET TO BE AFFIXED
1930

LOUISA
CATHERINE
ADAMS.