John Adams II

John Adams II (July 4, 1803 – October 23, 1834) was an American government official and businessman. He was the second son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams. To distinguish him from his grandfather, President John Adams, he is frequently referred to as John Adams II.

Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1803, John Adams II attended Harvard University. During his senior year, he was expelled in 1823 for participating in a student rebellion that protested the university’s curriculum and living conditions. In 1873, the majority of students involved in the 1823 incident, including John Adams II, were officially designated as "Bachelor of Arts as of 1823" and admitted to Harvard's Roll of Graduates.

Following his departure from Harvard, Adams studied law under his father. When John Quincy Adams became president, Adams served as his private secretary. During this period, an incident occurred during a White House reception involving Russell Jarvis, a reporter for the Washington Daily Telegraph who opposed President Adams. Jarvis believed President Adams publicly insulted Mrs. Jarvis. Without the officially recognized right to challenge a president to a duel, Jarvis attempted to provoke a duel with John Adams II, who was present at the reception. This confrontation escalated into a well-publicized fistfight inside the Capitol rotunda, during which Jarvis pulled Adams’s hair and nose and slapped him, while Adams refrained from retaliating. An investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives concluded that Jarvis initiated the attack but took no further action.

Louisa Adams believed that the negative press from this incident, which accused Adams II of cowardice and was supported by newspapers aligned with Andrew Jackson, contributed to Adams’s early death. The incident also prompted the formation of the United States Capitol Police, a security force responsible for protecting Congressional buildings and grounds.

John Adams II had two brothers, George and Charles. All three brothers were rivals for the affection of their cousin, Mary Catherine Hellen, who resided with the Adams family following her parents’ deaths. In 1828, John Adams II married Mary Hellen in a White House ceremony, which was not attended by his brothers. The couple had two daughters: Mary Louisa (born December 2, 1828, died July 16, 1859) and Georgiana Frances (born September 10, 1830, died November 20, 1839).

Following his father’s departure from the White House, Adams endeavored to establish a career in business, including operating a Washington flour mill owned by his father. His efforts proved unsuccessful, and his struggles were compounded by concerns over his brother George’s alcoholism and a presumed suicide attempt in 1829. These challenges contributed to Adams’s own decline into alcoholism.

John Adams II died in Washington, D.C., on October 23, 1834. He was interred in Hancock Cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts. His widow, Mary Hellen Adams, continued to live with John Quincy and Louisa Adams in their later years, assisting in their care until her death in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, on August 31, 1870.