Talk:Abigail Adams

message: We are told that "The couple married on October 25, 1764, five days before John's 29th birthday, in the Smiths' home in Weymouth. Then Rev. Smith (the bride's father) performed the nuptials."  The word "then" needs clarification.  Did they get married first and THEN have the nuptials performed?  If so, how do you get married before the nuptials are performed?  On the other hand, does THEN mean that Smith was a reverend when he performed the ceremony but THEN got defrocked for some reason, so that he became a "then (former) Reverend"?  John Paul Parks (talk) 05:03, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Marriage to John Adams

message: "She fell in love with Michael Pritt of French and had babies. This was her second marriage. NOt soon after her husband and sons were killed in the Mexican war and soon found love again."
Where did this come from? Is not John Adams her first husband?! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.8.16.92 (talk) 05:15, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Unless there's a source I'd assume it's vandalism. -Will Beback · † · 06:08, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

text: I can't wait to find out how her husband and son found love after being killed. OtherDave (talk) 16:46, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: She fell in love with Michael Pritt of French

message: what did abigail adams have to do with the revolutionary war? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.210.225.131 (talk) 18:38, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  revolutionary war?

message: This group of edits by a currently blocked user with a history of copy/pasting from other websites, contains these fragments apparently copied from sites on Abigail Elizabeth/Smith Adams:
*"looked after family and home when he went traveling as circuit judge"
*"importance of reason and morality"
I have not reverted since these may be too short to be a copyright concern, and whitehouse.gov (first source) is probably free to quote. But someone more familiar with the material might want to review this and either:
*add the above as citations, perhaps with a rewrite, or
*revert
These were the first two phrases I tried. There may be more overlap with other sites. / edg ☺ ☭ 05:20, 25 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible plagiarism concern 

message: What Abigail Adams meant by "pins"?  They where 6000 pins in a "bundle".  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.64.18.79 (talk) 19:49, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pins? 

message: Historians have said that John and Abigail were already related to each other before they married each other that they were 3rd cousins to each other is this true????  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.80.106.105 (talk) 22:40, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Which historians?  Tomertalk 05:14, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, which? I'm not sure myself, and have never read that, but it wouldn't be that big a deal. I just put together an article on the Quincy family and found three instances of distant cousins marrying. --Aepoutre (talk) 06:48, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Ya...all I'm saying is that if we're going to put that in the article, we need a reliable historian to reference.  If that wasn't the goal of the anonymous poster, then s/he's apparently violating the purpose of this talk page.  Assuming good faith, I'll opt for the former, and repeat my inquiry..."Which historians?" Tomertalk 09:37, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

text: The volume you're  citing is by Henry Bond (not Boyd), who was the best-known chronicler of the early history of Watertown. MarmadukePercy (talk) 01:45, 19 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  John & Abigal related to each other before they married 

message: It says: She was the first Second Lady of the United States.
Was she not the second First Lady of the United States? 81.234.228.170 (talk) 21:06, 17 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: She was both.   Will Beback  talk   21:24, 17 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incorrect title? 

message: Why isn't there more info/section on her life when John Adams was Vice President?  Seems like a valuable addition if possible.
67.241.48.177 (talk) 20:22, 18 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  More info on time as Second Lady in White House 

message: The article mentions that during her husband's presidency, she was unusually politically active for a woman of her time. That's very interesting, but it would be nice if the article mentioned what some of her political activities were. I don't think I've ever read an another article on a political figure where it just said "And then s/he went and did some politics." Redsrevenge (talk) 22:33, 4 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Political Activism?  

message: end quote under  woman's right.
108.80.59.169 (talk) 05:37, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for catching that. I've fixed it.   Will Beback  talk   06:02, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request from 108.80.59.169, 9 September 2011 

message: The portrait of Abigail Adams at the top of the page is incorrectly attributed to Gilbert Stuart.  The picture section opposite page 320 of the 2008 edition of John Adams by David McCullough identifies this youthful portrait as the work of Benjamin Blythe in 1766.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by BillyBloom (talk • contribs) 23:20, 19 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portrait Artist Incorrect 

message: In the "Marriage and children" section, for correctness please change this wording:
John had inherited from his father in Braintree, Massachusetts (later renamed Quincy), before moving to Boston, where his law practice expanded.
TO:
John had inherited from his father in Braintree, Massachusetts (part of which was later renamed Quincy), before moving to Boston, where his law practice expanded.
OR BETTER for simplicity just remove the words in parentheses as they are not needed:
John had inherited from his father in Braintree, Massachusetts, before moving to Boston, where his law practice expanded.
Bilanglo (talk) 16:26, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  -andy4789 ★ · (talk? contribs?) 18:45, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 8 February 2012 

message: I have removed the reference given to Nagel's JQA biography because there's no reference to religious views at all on the cited page, much less those of Abigail Adams. The cited passage from the UUA site is pretty unequivocal, and in the absence of better references I think it has to be preferred. Mangoe (talk) 13:48, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Religious views 

message: It links to Thomas Jefferson's daughter, not his wife.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.110.202.191 (talk) 02:18, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Succeeded by links to the wrong person. 

message: Several of the links to Harvard University Press books have broken since HUP changed our link syntax.
Please change the link in the External Link section for My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, Harvard University Press from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/ADAMYD.html to http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674057050
Please change the link in the External Link section for The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters, Harvard University Press from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/NAGADX.html to http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674004108
Please change the link in the External Link section for Descent from Glory: Four Generations of the John Adams Family, Harvard University Press from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/NAGDEX.html to http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674198296
Please change the link in the External Link section for Adams Family Correspondence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/ADAADA.html to http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674004009
Thank you.
Gkornbluh (talk) 20:35, 9 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Done Thanks for finding the new URLs.  RudolfRed (talk) 03:51, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Broken links in "External Links" 

message: Curious to know why there are two versions of the same portrait in this article - one facing left and the other facing right....?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrbentley (talk • contribs) 19:14, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Good call! Looks like the upper one was cropped and refaced. We are not supposed to edit pictures. Okay if someone took a "close up" of an existing portrait, but appears that someone photoshopped it to face the opposite. If true, it should be rm not only from here but from WikiCommons. (Disclosure: I am not an expert on that photo!) Student7 (talk) 19:36, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  One Portrait Twice? 

message: ===Father William Smith===
The Abigail's father was Reverend William Smith (1707–1784)
Please change "The Abigail" to "Abigail" because the sentence is not grammatical.
Timothybest (talk) 05:57, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Done Minor edit only. That entire section doesn't belong as this article is about Abigail Adams and not her father, but for now I see no problem with the requested edit. Thank you for helping to improve Wikipedia. —KuyaBriBriTalk 15:17, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  These edits here would not cause a controversy were Reverend William Smith an article, not a redirect. But there is no another article where this paragraph about Reverend Smith can be topical. Could you cite some more convincing substantiation for removal of a legitimate content than WP:COATRACK? Incnis Mrsi (talk) 18:00, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I was not aware of such a redirect to that specific section of this article. I have undone my removal of that section for now; however, I still believe that it is heavily redundant with the paragraph immediately above it and in some places contradicts it. That needs to be rectified. —KuyaBriBriTalk 19:34, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 28 February 2013 

message: The Abigail's father was Reverend William Smith (1707–1784)
Please change "The Abigail" to "Abigail" because the sentence is not grammatical.
Timothybest (talk) 05:57, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Done Minor edit only. That entire section doesn't belong as this article is about Abigail Adams and not her father, but for now I see no problem with the requested edit. Thank you for helping to improve Wikipedia. —KuyaBriBriTalk 15:17, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  These edits here would not cause a controversy were Reverend William Smith an article, not a redirect. But there is no another article where this paragraph about Reverend Smith can be topical. Could you cite some more convincing substantiation for removal of a legitimate content than WP:COATRACK? Incnis Mrsi (talk) 18:00, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I was not aware of such a redirect to that specific section of this article. I have undone my removal of that section for now; however, I still believe that it is heavily redundant with the paragraph immediately above it and in some places contradicts it. That needs to be rectified. —KuyaBriBriTalk 19:34, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Father William Smith

message: 108.210.154.192 (talk) 22:29, 8 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. NiciVampireHeart 22:35, 8 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 8 May 2014 

message: 108.210.154.192 (talk) 22:26, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 9 May 2014 

message: According to Abigail's letter to John dated Oct 1, 1775, in which she says, speaking of her mother, "this day about 5 oclock she left this world for an infinitely better", we may infer that Elizabeth's death was in October, not July, of 1775.
72.95.90.55 (talk) 14:02, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Date error for mother's death 

message: A new paragraph was added that says her sisters were born in 1739 and 1742. The next paragraph reads that her parents married in 1742 and is unchanged from the previous discussion of 1 1/2 years ago. So what is it? Her two elder sisters were illegitimate or the previous paragraphs are sloppy and need to be edited or eliminated. Which is it? Thanks! 66.67.32.161 (talk) 03:01, 20 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  error as discussed above 

message: She was born November 11th, NOT November 22nd, and the correct date makes it true that she died two weeks before her birthday.
...Right?
Yes and no. In 1752, the calendar changed from the Julian to the Gregorian. That meant 11 days were added to compensate for the shifting of the calendar. SO by the "old style" calendar, she was born on November 11th, just as her husband was born on October 19th. But since we now go by thee Gregorian, that means her birthdate is November 22, 1744, NOT November 11th. Ok. ? 66.67.32.161 (talk) 21:10, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Born November Eleventh! 

message: Abigail Adams was married to john adams they were married on october 25th 1764. john adams has children. john adams has kids because abigail adams had children.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 by kaylee hutchins at mckinley  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.179.123.238 (talk) 18:57, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  ABIGAIL ADAMS  

message: Abigail Adams was wife of john adams. and she wrote many letters to john adams. they known each other since 1762. adams died on october 28th. she was 73 years old when she died. crowns nearby penn hill.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.179.123.222 (talk) 17:56, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Abigail Adams 

message: date of birth: nov. 11, 1744  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.39.120.226 (talk) 17:40, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 9 May 2016 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I've extensively seen that Abigail Adams was born November 11, not 22. Also I asked my teacher and she said the 11th as well
65.123.159.131 (talk) 21:58, 25 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: We include both old style (November 11) and new style (November 22) dates. —MRD2014 (talk • contribs) 00:08, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 25 October 2016 

message: I recently added some citations to this article. I also rearranged some facts in the article to try and provide more of a chronology of Adams' life. I think having some of her positions on political issues at the end of the article works fine, I moved things like the death of her daughter Nabby, which had been in the Europe section and moved it to her later life where it fits chronologically.
There is a lot to be done on this article including expanding on several events and finding citations for facts already in the article. I welcome any collaboration. Given her importance in American history I think this article is a great target for improvement. Knope7 (talk) 02:04, 23 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article improvement "Good Article" goal 

message: she is a lesbian Jebbush69 (talk) 18:47, 14 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: You're going to need a lot of very reliable sources to support that claim. —C.Fred (talk) 18:48, 14 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 14 December 2016 

message: Current text: Adams brought the children of brother William Smith, her brother-in-law John Shaw, and her Charles to live in the President's House during her husband's presidency because the children's respective fathers all struggled with alcoholism
Suggested Edit:  Add the word "son" in between "her" and "Charlies" to read:
Adams brought the children of brother William Smith, her brother-in-law John Shaw, and her SON Charles to live in the President's House during her husband's presidency because the children's respective fathers all struggled with alcoholism  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bdavis1511 (talk • contribs) 00:17, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: -Knope7 (talk) 01:01, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  missing word in the section First Lady 

message: Wikipedia states that Abigail joined up with John Adams in France after the war ended. This is incorrect. Abigail, along with her daughter Nabby, were reunited with John in England first, not France, where he was to serve as the first ambassador to England. They had a house in France during this time which they did go and visit.  Ftweedy (talk) 08:37, 3 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Correction needed on section about Abigail in Europe 

message: https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biographies/abigail-adams Aliggon (talk) 17:57, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. —KuyaBriBriTalk 18:11, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 26 October 2017 

message: Please add "During the long periods while John Adams left his wife Abigail to watch over the farm and the family, she made a lot of the money that made the Adams family wealthy. Many think that John died wealthy because if his wife’s smart financing skills." right after the statement, "Adams was responsible for family and farm when her husband was on his long trips. "Alas!", she wrote in December 1773, "How many snow banks divide thee and me."'
Saxton, Martha. "Abigail Adams, Capitalist." The Women's Review of Books 27.6 (2 Isabellatabarrini21 (talk) 00:58, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Partly done: Added the information as a separate paragraph. Eggishorn (talk) (contrib) 21:17, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 27 October 2017 

message: Add 'Boston Women's Memorial, completed in 2003 by Meredith Bergmann, is dedicated to women that "had an impact on the idea of justice in our society through their writing". It features Abigail Adams alongside Lucy Stone and Phillis Wheatley.'
Dan7em (talk) 07:05, 14 May 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: The sculpture features three women who "all had an impact on the idea of justice in our society through their writing". That is the starting point for deciphering any sort of theme of the sculpture, not what it is dedicated to, unless you mean that is what the women were dedicated to, then you'd be partially correct, in that this may not have been what they were dedicated to personally, but rather, what the artist believed they had an impact upon. "Dedicated" is problematic because in the source you provided the artist does not mention the word "dedicated" anywhere in the text - it is not a term the author/artist used herself. If any sort of ideal was dedicated within the sculpture's creation, that ideal is best explained by the artist:  "Each figure is posed in relation to her pedestal in a unique way that adds to her portrait. Stone has attempted to subdue and steer her pedestal, Adams leans in companionable, almost spousal co-existence on hers, and Wheatley has made hers into a desk, the object that symbolizes the privacy that she won with her talent while still a slave. I placed them around the circle, each absorbed in her work, with quotations or biographies readable from any angle to encourage visitors to compare their ideas and actions and to form their own conversation among them." .spintendo⋅⋅) 07:42, 14 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 14 May 2018 

message: She was a dick and she hated so many people. She cheated on her husband John Adams. 65.51.227.27 (talk) 17:45, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. aboideautalk 17:50, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 22 January 2019 

message: This statement appears to be politically motivated rather than a nuanced understanding of her role and stances.
She was not seeking equality in rights/responsibilities.  Her "remember the ladies" is not actually a learned, "erudite" approach. 
The women who were most influential in framing the Constitution were from colonial PA, NJ and DE. These include Susanna Wright, Mary Norris Dickinson, etc.
John Adams did not sign the US Constitution (which uses only the terms "Person" and "Citizen" and excludes the term "Man").  The US Constitution also excludes religious sources of law.   He and Jefferson (who also didn't sign the US Constitution) framed the Declaration of Independence in "Man" with religious source of law claimed ("endowed by our Creator").  
Her position as a woman egging on her "Divine Right of Man" husband, whose ideology is more Cromwellian, probably did influence the Revolutionary War happening and the Dec. of Independence.  She clearly did not understand the constitutional issues, including those of the 1689 English Bill of Rights (which also uses only the term "Person").  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.229.155.68 (talk) 16:31, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  "She is sometimes considered to have been a Founder of the United States"  - this is a simplistic, unsupported claim  

message: The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion:
* 
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Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:13, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion 

message: I'm curious why we're using the Blyth portrait in the infobox and not the Stuart one. The Stuart one was made closer to her time as First Lady. Stuart's portrait of John Adams from the same timeframe is used in his infobox also. -- Calidum 19:29, 1 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I merely reverted to the most recently used portrait in order to get rid of the coin image that was ridiculously added to the infobox. If you feel the Stuart image is better, add it, you'll have no objection from me. I just want to make sure that contemporary portraiture is used and nothing posthumous. Best regards, Cristiano Tomás (talk) 19:35, 1 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: It's ok you reverted to it -- and I agree we shouldn't be using a coin. I'd like to see why the Blyth portrait was chosen before I switch them. -- Calidum 23:42, 1 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Infobox image 

message: What is written in the death section of Abigail Adams? Is it true? Please see to it. SpaceHero4 (talk) 18:50, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Abigail Adams 

message: This edit of November 2021 added the phrase "blue mustache" to the alt text of Adams' portrait, and there was some other clear vandalism which has since been removed, but there are other changes made as part of that edit seem good to my uneducated eye and which are still in the article. That edit, made by an editor who made no other edits, could probably use review by a knowledgeable editor. Thank you, SchreiberBike | ⌨  17:33, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Woman with deep blue mustache - needs a double check 

message: she is cool 160.7.18.41 (talk) 17:28, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  abigale 

message: The same portrait of her in her later years is shown in four places in the article. One or at most two should suffice, IMO. 87.126.21.225 (talk) 13:12, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Same image 4 times? 

message: Pardon my lack of familiarity with Wikipedia formatting, style, and editing culture. This sentence in the "Early life and family" section is incorrect or misleading, "Smith married Elizabeth Quincy in 1740, and together they had three daughters; Abigail was the youngest, following her sisters Mary (1739–1811) and Elizabeth ("Betsy", 1742–1816)." 
It is misleading because Abigail Adams's parents had four children; three daughters and one son (William Smith, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(patriot)). It is incorrect because Elizabeth "Betsy" Smith Shaw Peabody lived from 1750—1815, at least according to this person record from a Massachusetts public library (https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Peabody%2C%20Elizabeth%20Smith%20Shaw%2C%201750-1815). Here is another Wikipedia article supporting the notion that Abigail was the second of four children and not the youngest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_political_family#:~:text=Elizabeth%20Quincy%20(1721%E2%80%931775)). Other sources such as Encyclopedia Britannica, PBS, and the National Park Service also support that Abigail was the 2nd of four children.
The associated source/footnote does not support the claim in the sentence in a clear and accessible fashion. I believe that the sentence in question ought to be struck from the article and replaced, unless somebody can update the citation with a compelling and authoritative source. DBlasioN (talk) 20:24, 31 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Siblings and Ages