Church of the Presidents, Quincy, Massachusetts - Weathervane Wednesday

 

The Church of the Presidents, or the United First Parish Church of Quincy, Massachusetts is located on 1306 Hancock Street.  It is a Unitarian Universalist congregation today.  The building was erected in 1828, with funding by President John Adams, who contributed the granite.  The original building was a wooden meetinghouse with a congregational church.  It is now known as "The Church of the Presidents" because both presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams were parishoners.  Both presidents are buried in the crypt along with their wives, the First ladies Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams.  Their pews are marked with ribbons and plaques in the sanctuary.

I had previously visited Quincy and the National Park sites here associated with John Adams and John Quincy Adams, but I had never visited this church.  We toured the church as part of a Mayflower Society tour in July 2022, because both presidents Adams were descendants of Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.  

CHURCH OF THE PRESIDENTS

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Built in 1828, this church is the fourth edifice to

house the town's earliest congregation and is the

resting place of two United States Presidents and

First Ladies.  The building was endowed by John

Adams, who specified it be a "Temple of stone"

built of Quincy granite.                                     

In 1826, John Quincy Adams proposed that the 

church become the permanent resting place of his

parents: "A plain and modest monument" that "may

yet be as durable as the walls of the Temple, and as

the Rocks of his Native Town."  In 1852 the church

also became the resting place of John Quincy and 

Louisa Catherine Adams.                                  

This iron weathervane is on display in the church basement, near the crypt where the Adams presidents lay in rest.  It was originally installed on one of the former wooden church steeples that preceded the current stone church.  

Our tour guide took us inside the crypt under the church to see the final resting place of both Presidents Adams and their first ladies.  It is a simple, unadorned space.  The only other president laid to rest in a church is President Woodrow Wilson, who was buried in the Washington, D. C. National Cathedral with his First Lady, Edith Wilson. 

The church is open to the public for tours, including the crypt.  Every year there are wreath laying ceremonies on the birthdays of John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  Please see the links below for contact information for the First Parish Church to arrange for a tour.  There is no fee for a tour, but donations are welcome.  The crypt is wheelchair accessible (elevator) and there is a virtual tour for those who cannot visit in person.

For the truly curious:

The Church of the Presidents - United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts -  https://ufpc.org/ 

The Church of the Presidents, Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_First_Parish_Church  

The Church of the Presidents, Facebook group -  https://www.facebook.com/Church-of-the-Presidents-297561790578720/  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Church of the Presidents, Quincy, Massachusetts - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 16, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/11/church-of-presidents-quincy.html: accessed [access date]).