John Quincy Adams was born on July 11, 1767. His parents were John and Abigail Adams. He was home schooled as a very young boy by his cousin, James Thax.
In 1777, when Adams was just ten years old, he went with his father to Europe. He attended the Passy Academy until they returned to America for a short three months. When they went back again to Europe, Quincy Adams was offered to be a secretary for Francis Dana (lawyer and representative for France and Russia). He traveled with him for five months and then returned to this house with his father in Paris. They lived there for the next couple of years until finally returning to Massachusetts in 1785.
Quincy Adams was 21 years old in this painting. He was a Harvard graduate studying law. This painting was made on April 27, 1788.
John Quincy Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill at the age of seven. He watched it from the top of Penn's Hill above the family farm with his mother.