Perleys Reminiscences, v. 1-2 | Page 6

Francis Adams,
survived her. It is related, as evidence of her good sense, that on one
occasion Mrs. Mason, of Analostan Island, called, accompanied by two
or three other ladies belonging to the first families of Virginia, to enlist
Mrs. Adams in behalf of her son-in- law, Lieutenant Cooper (afterward
Adjutant-General of the United States Army, and subsequently of the
Confederate forces), who wanted to be detailed as an aide-de-camp on
the staff of General Macomb. Mrs. Adams heard their request and then
replied: "Truly, ladies, though Madames Maintenon and Pompadour are
said to have controlled the military appointments of their times, I do
not think such matters appertain to women; but if they did and I had
any influence with Mr. Adams, it should be given to Mrs. Scott, with
whom I became acquainted while traveling last summer."
Mr. Adams' private secretary was his son, John Adams, who soon made
himself very obnoxious to the friends of General Jackson. One evening
Mr. Russell Jarvis, who then edited the Washington Telegraph, a
newspaper which advocated Jackson's election, attended a "drawing
room" at the White House, escorting his wife and a party of visiting

relatives from Boston. Mr. Jarvis introduced them courteously, and
they then passed on into the East Room. Soon afterward they found
themselves standing opposite to Mr. John Adams, who was conversing
with the Rev. Mr. Stetson. "Who is that lady?" asked Mr. Stetson.
"That," replied Mr. John Adams, in a tone so loud that the party heard it,
"is the wife of one Russell Jarvis, and if he knew how contemptibly he
is viewed in this house they would not be here." The Bostonians at once
paid their respects to Mrs. Adams and withdrew, Mr. Jarvis having first
ascertained from Mr. Stetson that it was Mr. John Adams who had
insulted them. A few days afterward Mr. Jarvis sent a note to Mr. John
Adams, demanding an explanation, by a friend of his, Mr. McLean. Mr.
Adams told Mr. McLean that he had no apology to make to Mr. Jarvis,
and that he wished no correspondence with him.
A week later Mr. John Adams went to the Capitol to deliver messages
from the President to each house of Congress. Having delivered that
addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was going
through the rotunda toward the Senate Chamber, when he was
overtaken by Mr. Jarvis, who pulled his nose and slapped his face. A
scuffle ensued, but they were quickly parted by Mr. Dorsey, a
Representative from Maryland. President Adams notified Congress in a
special message of the occurrence, and the House appointed a select
committee of investigation. Witnesses were examined and elaborate
reports were drawn up, but neither the majority nor the minority
recommended that any punishment be inflicted upon Mr. Jarvis.
Mr. John Adams was married, while his father occupied the White
House, to his mother's niece, Miss Mary Hellen, of Washington. The
ceremony was performed by Rev. Dr. Hawley, of St. John's Church,
and General Ramsey, who was one of the groomsmen, is authority for
the statement that the President, usually so grave and unsocial, unbent
for the nonce, and danced at the wedding ball in a Virginia reel with
great spirit.
The foreign diplomats were recognized as leaders in Washington
society, and one of the Secretaries of Legation created a sensation by
appearing on Pennsylvania Avenue mounted on a velocipede imported

from London. Pennsylvania Avenue was then bordered with scraggy
poplar trees, which had been planted under the direction of President
Jefferson.
Mr. Adams found the furniture of the White House in a dilapidated
condition. Thirty thousand dollars had been appropriated by Congress
for the purchase of new furniture during the Administration of Mr.
Monroe; but his friend, Colonel Lane, Commissioner of Public
Buildings, to whom he had intrusted it, became insolvent, and died
largely in debt to the Government, having used the money for the
payment of his debts, instead of procuring furniture. When a
appropriation of fourteen thousand dollars was made, to be expended
under the direction of Mr. Adams, for furniture, he took charge of it
himself. This was severely criticised by the Democratic press, as was
the purchase of a billiard table for the White House, about which so
much was said that Mr. John Adams finally paid the bill from his own
pocket.
Mrs. Adams won popularity at Washington by the graceful manner in
which she presided over the hospitalities of the White House. The stiff
formalities of the "drawing-rooms" of Mrs. Washington and Mrs. John
Adams, and the free-and-easy "receptions" of Mr. Jefferson's daughters,
had been combined by Mrs. Madison into what she christened "levees",
at which all ceremonious etiquette was banished. Mrs. Monroe, who
had mingled in the fashionable circles of London and Paris, as