Diary of John Adams, volume 2
1775-12-09
Having Yesterday as
This is the first regular entry since 29 Oct. in JA's Diary. Why he failed to keep a record of either personal or congressional affairs during the last six weeks he attended Congress is unexplained except by the number of committees on which he sat and the amount of writing that some of them, notably the so-called naval committee, required. His correspondence also fell off. On 25 Nov. he wrote to Mercy Warren: “I wish it was in my Power to write to you oftener than I do, but I am really engaged in constant Business
In respect to JA's activities in Congress the gap in the Diary is at least partially supplied by his Autobiography, which states that he sought a leave at this time because he was “worn down with long and uninterrupted Labour.”
JA's itinerary and expenses on this return trip from Philadelphia are recorded in meticulous detail in his Account with Massachusetts, Aug.-Dec. 1775, q.v. above. He arrived in Braintree on 21 December.