Litchfield enquirer., 1833-08-08
.7''@ Ei0Jm X. \. csscimnpsi CGrOn;cle.
ran cognTsaIr aED nARRIAslIn oE F.

THE COURTsHIP AND MARRIAGE OF THE
 sssg I ELDER ADAMS. A,s ra es hs Soue ten years since | spent a college vacation in ti,o town of Weymouih, Nor
 folksce. Massachusetts. While thefe at- tended church on Sunday morning, at what wnS called inc old Weymouth meeting house: and heard h sermon from the Veti- erable pastor. the Rev. Jacob Norton.- About the same time. in company with a friend. II made MT. Norton a visit, spent delightful hour with him aud his agreeable family. audain fact, became much interes- ted in the old gentleman. mentioned my agreeable visit to all aged but intelligent la ldy ofthe paFisll. whose acquaintance I had made. This lady loved the church as sue
 did her own soul it was the place where, she had heard from, infancy to advanced age, the words of eternal life. and it was, literally to, her the very gato of heavens-7--
 Next,tO the church ifself, in the scale ofherl regards, was siserreverend pastor, Mr. Nor
 ton. ea is3d T " fes .t'st4 5a:l
 Weymouth is sitnatcd twenty or thirty
 miles northwest of old Plymouth rock it
 was settled not long after our foreiathets
 Handed at the latter: place and of course
 this church must be among the most ancient |,of N. England churches, This estimable
 old lady beguiled mo of many a delightful Isiour at different times, in giving me the tradiiionary history and relating anecdotes of the old church and it's different pastors. She informed mo that MT. Norton was osdained their pastor when about twenty ono years ofage, and that he had been with them at that time, nearly forty years. She observed that most ofAis present parishion- CTS could remember no, other pastor; but that she colaad wellreMember his predeces- sor, the Rev. Mir. Smith, and that he and Mt. Norton had filled tho pulpit for tho better part ofthe last eighty years. Mi. Smith," said she, "was a very different mar, from MT. Norton an able man an
 excellent man-and fine preacher but. he had high notions of himself and family in other words that he was something of an
 aristocrat.' One day said sho to mo, s' To illustrate toyou the character of old parson
 Smith, will tell you an anecdote that re-
 Iates to himself and some other persons of distinction. Mir. Smith had two charming
 daughters, [the elder of these daughters
 was Mary, the others name l have forgot ten, I who were the admiration of all the
 beaux. and the envy ofall the bellies in the
 country around. Various sago and deep
 disquisitiors were had by the wise ones of the parish, who would Do tho happy lads that would find favor in the eyes of these
 ladies ! Bat while these careful guardians of the parsons family wore holding consul- tations on the subject. 1t was rumored that
 two young lawyers, think both of the neighboring iowa of Quincy, J a MT. Cranch and Mir. sAdams. were paying iheir ad- dresses to the Miss Smiths. As every man, woman, and child. of country par-
 ish tn New England, lis acquainted with
 whatever takes place in parsUn's family, all the circnmstaiices of the courtship soon
 transpired. MT. Cranch was member of a family of some note, was, considered q
 young man of promise, and altogether wor- \ thy the alliance he sought. He was very 1 acceptable 10 MT. Smi.h, and greeted by
 him and his family with great respect and
 cofdiality. Hc was received by the elder
 daSghter as lover, and was, in fact, a I young man of much responsibility. He nf4 fterwards rose to the dignity of Judge of tho I Court of Common Pleas in Massachusetts.
 and was the, father of the, present Hon. Judge Cranch, of the District of Columbia. | The sDitor of the other daughter was John Adams, who afterwards became Pr idsnt of thc United States 4 Bat af that time, in the opinion of Mr. Smith. andfaif,- l ily, he' gave but slender promise 6f tiie dis- function to which hc aficrward attained.
 His pretensions were scorncd at by all the
 family excepting the young lady to whom
 his attentions were especially difected.--
 MT. Sishh showed him. none oflbe civilities
 of his house,--he was not asked 10 partake
 of the hospitalilies of tho table; and 1t is reported tlsat his horsc was doomcdto slInre
 with his master, the neglect and mortifca- ton to which he was subjected. He was
 frequently seen shivering in tho cold and
 gnawiRg the post atthe parsons door of Hong winter evenings. In fine, it. vas re-
 ported that MT. Smith had iniimaied to hin,
 that his visits were unacceptable, and he
 would do him favor by discohtinuing
 them hc told his daughter that Jolin Ad-
 ans was not worthy ofber that his father
 Was an honest tradesman and farmer, who had tried ,o initiate John in the arts of hus-
 bandry and shoemaking, but without snc- cess; and that he had sent him to college
 as a last. resort He, in fine. begged of his
 daughter not to think of an alliance SO mael,
 beneath her. ri ...
 l Miss Snisi, was among the most datifal of daughters but she saw Mr. Adams 4 thronpE mediain, far different from that