Presidential Sites: United First Parish Church Quincy, Mass.

Now a Unitarian Church, United First Parish Church was Congregational when John and Abigail were buried here. Like many of our early leaders, John's leanings would have fit in very nicely with the direction the church has gone. The present church was built in 1828 but it has been a congregation for over 350 years and has had several different buildings (the current is the second stone church) and at least two different locations.

Today you will find the burial place of both Adams presidents and their wives in the crypt. While we were waiting for one tour to end we sat in the rear of the church. What we learned there was a little about the history of the town of Quincy, which began its life as the north precinct of the town of Braintree. Each of the suburban Boston towns had its own charter and by 1640 each was looking to form its own church since attendance was mandatory in Massachusetts Colony.

John Hancock was born in Braintree and both he and John Adams were baptized by Rev. Hancock. In 1792 the town received its name of Quincy, after Abby’s grandfather. Now you starting to get a picture of just how much a part of the Massachusetts fabric these two families were, think of the names of some of the towns Adams, Quincy, Boylston just to name a few.

We sat in the Adams family pew while our docent gave us our verbal tour of the church. The pews are the original ones, there is a mahogany pulpit and some of the glass is the wavy original. The ceiling is beautiful with a passion flower in the center. Two plaques in the church are dedicated to the Adams family.

One interesting fact that I took from this tour was that "It came upon the Midnight Clear" was sung in this church for the first time ever in 1849. A bit of trivia that might come in useful.

What most people come here for is to visit the graves of the second and sixth presidents and their first ladies. John and Abigail were buried first in the cemetery across the street but were later moved into the more secure crypt of the church.