CEO of Adams Inc.

A fresh view of Abigail as not just a champion of gender equality but a shrewd investment manager

November 22, 2009|Paul C. Nagel, Globe Correspondent

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Later, having said nothing about the matter, Secretary Adams instructed Louisa Catherine to inform those who inquired that her husband had been so weighed down by official duties he had no time to travel to Quincy. There was merit in this reasoning, of course. Still, as documents in the Adams Papers clearly reveal, John Quincy had grown increasingly impatient with his mother’s life-long attempts to rule him. She had addressed many subjects with him, from his attire to where and how he should carry out his public duties. Now at last had come the time when the son could demonstrate his independence - after Abigail was beyond scolding him.

Although Holton does not include this bit of Adams family lore, it may be one of the most eloquent accounts of Abigail’s campaign to establish that men and women were meant to be equals, and that marriage was a partnership among equals. It is his treatment of that endeavor that contributes most to making Holton’s biography of Abigail Adams a notable success and very much worth reading.

Paul C. Nagel, a former history professor, is the author of three books on the Adams family, including “The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters.’’