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Note on the text:

This is JQA's first diary entry!
The Sensible's twenty-eight twelve-pounders, while relatively small artillery pieces, would have given a measure of reassurance in the dangerous waters of the northern Atlantic.
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John Quincy Adams
Diary Entry

1779 November Friday 12th

This Morning at about 11 o clock I took leave of my Mamma, my Sister, and Brother Tommy, and went to Boston with Mr. Thaxter, in order to go on board the Frigate the Sensible of 28 twelve Pounders. We arrived at Boston at about 1 o clock; dined at my uncle Smiths', we expected to go on board in the afternoon but We could not conveniently—till to morrow.

Adams, John Quincy. Diary entry, November 12, 1779. Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. Published in Diary of John Quincy Adams, Volume 1: November 1779 - March 1786 (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981). Pages 1-2.