Almost single-handedly she ran the family farm at @Braintree, @Massachusetts, where she supported and raised their children. She wrote to her husband constantly during his many long absences from home on government business, keeping up his morale.
No woman could have been better prepared for the position of first lady than Mrs. Adams. The years she had spent with her husband during his government missions in @Paris and @London had taught her a great deal about social and political life. For example, she was the first American woman to be presented at the @British @Court.
In 1800, the capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, then a town in the wilderness. Mrs. Adams was the first president's wife to live in the new executive mansion. This was not exactly a pleasure, though, as the building that would be called the White House was unfinished, damp, and uncomfortable. Although she complained privately, Mrs. Adams made the best of the situation. All told, though, she was happy to leave public life in 1801, although her husband bitterly resented it. They returned to their home in Braintree, where they enjoyed 17 years of peace and companionship.
Thomas Jefferson had no official hostess. @Martha @Wayles @Skelton, a noted Virginia beauty, had died 19 years before her husband became president, and of their six children, only two daughters lived.
