Plaque Text for This Massachusetts Landmark:
In 1737, John Hancock was born in a house on this site. The house was later the home of the Josiah Quincy family, before being destroyed by fire in 1759. In 1822, John Adams, in endowing a school to prepare boys for college, specified it be built on this site to honor Hancock, “to whose great exertions and unlimited sacrifices this nation is so deeply indebted,” and Josiah Quincy, Jr., “as ardent a patriot as any of his age, and next to James Otis, the greatest orator.”
The Adams Academy opened, in this building designed by William Ware and Henry Van Brunt, in 1872 and continued until 1907.
More about John Hancock Birth Site and Adams Academy:
There aren’t a lot of historic sites left that talk about John Hancock. For the first hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, he was overshadowed by George Washington. His home in Beacon Hill was torn down, and the first plaques in his honor weren’t installed until 1876! But John Hancock was born here on January 23, 1737, son of the minister at what would later become United First Parish Church! A Harvard-educated Freemason, he entered politics on Boston’s Board of Selectmen in 1765, just before the passing of the Stamp Act. His resistance to the Stamp Act propelled him into the Massachusetts House of Representatives the following year!
Accused of smuggling wine in the years before the Revolution, Mr. Hancock successfully negotiated the withdrawal of British troops from Boston after the Boston Massacre, and, despite struggling with gout, became first president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1774! It was near his boyhood home at Lexington, where British soldiers meant to arrest him when the first shots of the Revolution rang out!
On May 24, 1775, Mr. Hancock was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress, and was later disappointed that George Washington got picked over him to be the first commander-in-chief! Nonetheless, he added the most famous signature to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and spent his post-war years as Governor of Massachusetts before succumbing to poor health at 56 on October 8, 1793.
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Donate to the Quincy Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
8 Adams Street
Quincy, MA 02169
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The academy building is now the Quincy Historical Society, open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM!