Abigail Adams Biography Born: November 22, 1744 Died: October
28, 1818 American political advisor and first lady Though she
believed her main role in life to be wife and mother, Abigail
Adams also was a behind-the-scenes stateswoman. She used her
talents to maintain her family during the many absences of her
husband, John Adams, the second president of the United States,
and to advise her husband about women's rights and slavery. Her
detailed letters with her husband, family, and friends provide a
historical record of the times and show her to have been a woman
ahead of her time. Abigail Smith was born in Weymouth,
Massachusetts, on November 11, 1744, to William and Elizabeth
Quincy Smith. Her well-educated father was the minister of the
North Parish Congregational Church of Weymouth. Although many of
Abigail's relatives were well-to-do merchants and ship captains,
she was raised in a simple, rural setting. She was educated at
home, learning domestic skills, such as sewing, fine needle-
work, and cooking, alon