By Jenna Colozza, Library Assistant
Psst! Do you like gossip? Well, what about historical gossip?
Okay, don’t tell anyone you heard this from me, and I don’t know what exactly, but something very dramatic happened between Hannah Quincy and Richard Cranch in the 1750s. Just read this letter she wrote him!
Sr.
I receiv’d this morning your unexpected Epistle, but Wish that you had oblig’d me by comeing yourself, that I might have acknowledged my ingratitude and beg’d your pardon, which I am but too sensible I ought to have done before I parted wth you; your goodness in forgiving my past Offence, is what I have not merited by any Confession of my fault, (but sincerely desire that I may.) as to your wishing, that I may have pleasureable sensations arise in my mind, when ever I think of it, I dont immagine [sic.] that you really think I can, No believe me I cannot, but on the Contrray [sic.], when ever I reflect on it, it will be with the utmost regret.—
Why will you Damon, make me unhappy by terming me your destroyer? for tis with the greatest sincerity, that I wish it were possible for me to make you happy by returning your affection in specie, and how often have [inserted: you] said that without such a return there could be no prospect at happiness.—
Then why will you teize me, in vain,
When I told you before and I tell you again,
I can never be yours.
But if you will favour me with your Friendship I shall allways Glory in it; but Let me beg you to place your Tenderest affections on a more worthy object, on one who will be sensible of: and return you that affection which is not in my power.
Noble may she be by birth made good by Virtue.
And Exceeding fair, mild as the infant rose;
And innocent; as when Heaven Lent her,
Her mind, as well as face, be yet a paradise
Untainted with blemishes:
Or the spreading weeds of Vice.—[1]
I know, it seems fairly straightforward at first—he liked her, she didn’t like him—but wait, it gets juicier.
Hannah Quincy was the daughter of Col. Josiah Quincy and the sister of Josiah Quincy II, who would go on to be Mayor of Boston. Richard Cranch was a close friend of John Adams. The letter is not dated, but it is cataloged as originating from 1754. If this attribution is correct, Cranch still hadn’t quite gotten over Quincy two years later. John Adams tried to comfort his cousin in a letter dated October 18, 1756: “I know it must be hard to conquer a Passion for a Lady so greatly accomplished as Miss H—— Q. But consider my friend that the more engaging the charms of her person and the more distinguished the Refinements of her Mind, the more noble your Resolution will appear if you subdue the inclination that such qualities naturally excite.”[2]
Hannah Quincy was quite popular among the bachelors of Braintree. Only a few years later, Adams himself would fall for Quincy, whom he sometimes called “Orlinda” in his diaries. By his description, Quincy was well-read, witty, charming, and beautiful. She was also clever and shrewd, with a good poker face: “She is apparently frank, but really reserved, seemingly pleased, and almost charmed, when she is really laughing with Contempt. Her face and Hart have no Correspondence.”[3] The two of them shared stimulating conversation and the occasional romantic stroll throughout the winter and spring of 1759.
Adams even came close to proposing to Quincy that spring, but they were interrupted in conversation, giving a doctor named Bela Lincoln the opportunity to sweep in and propose to her instead. Quincy and Lincoln were married in 1760. At the time, Adams evidently assumed the proposal was sudden and unexpected on Quincy’s part. He called this twist of fate “a great sacrifice to Reason”—he knew he wasn’t quite ready for marriage and needed to focus on his law career.[4]
Adams later developed a relationship with Quincy’s cousin, Abigail Smith, who of course would go on to be his wife and trusted friend and advisor. But first, in the summer of 1759, Adams drafted a very curious letter to Hannah’s father, Col. Josiah Quincy:
H. was very imprudent, to endeavour to exasperate Mr. Cranch, for she is sensible, that he knows a story to her Disadvantage, and she should remember that Love turned to Hatred, is like the best Wine turned to Vinegar, the most acrid in the World. He will seek Revenge. Arise black Vengeance from the hollow Hell is the language of Othello. I expect to hear very soon that he has divulged that story.
By saying you have corresponded with Dr. Lincoln so long and by saying I can tell you how J. Brackett carries your Letters to Captn. Hews’s, and leaves them there, and takes Lincolns Letters to you, she judged, that J. Brackett had told me she held a correspondence with Lincoln, and went to clearing herself. She declared and protested, she never wrote a Line to him in her Life, excepting one Billet, relating to those Reflections on Courtship and Marriage which she sent with that Book. So I got satisfied.
H. I dont know who has been plagued most, Mr. Cranch or I. I think I have as much Reason to complain of being plagued as he.[5]
By the summer, Adams had discovered that Hannah had played the field a bit, allowing Bela Lincoln to court her at the same time she entertained a relationship with Adams. But what exactly happened between Hannah Quincy and Richard Cranch that “plagued” him so—that Cranch could have chosen to damage her reputation by telling it? Perhaps it was simply the revelation about Quincy and Lincoln, but why would that be Cranch’s secret to tell? Could it be something even more shocking?
I suppose we may never know. But doesn’t that make the gossip even more intriguing?
For more juicy tidbits, see the Boston 1775 series on the Quincy/Cranch/Adams/Lincoln drama:
Bell, J. L. “Bachelors in Braintree.” Boston 1775 (blog). October 16, 2020. https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2020/10/bachelors-in-braintree.html
—. “Dr. Lincoln and His Lady.” Boston 1775 (blog). October 23, 2020. https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2020/10/dr-lincoln-and-his-lady.html
—. “The Career of Dr. Bela Lincoln.” Boston 1775 (blog). October 24, 2020. https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-career-of-dr-bela-lincoln.html
—. “Miss Quincy, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Storer, and the Adamses.” Boston 1775 (blog). October 26, 2020. https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2020/10/miss-quincy-mrs-lincoln-mrs-storer-and.html
With thanks to Gwen Fries, Production Editor of The Adams Papers, for her input.
[1] Hannah Quincy to Richard Cranch, [1754], Adams-Cranch papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. Unofficial transcription.
[2] John Adams to Richard Cranch, October 18, 1756. https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-06-01-02-0009
[3] The Diary of John Adams, Spring 1759. https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-01-01-02-0004-0001-0001
[4] The Diary of John Adams, Spring 1759.
[5] The Diary of John Adams, Summer 1759. https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-01-01-02-0004-0007-0001#DJA01d225n17a