• born 1735 in Braintree (Quincy) Mass.
• attended Harvard 1751-1755 - ambition, vanity, guilt
• not minister but farmer and Worcester schoolmaster
• 1756 reads law at James Putnam's office, especially Coke's Institutes
• 1758 visit to Jeremiah Gridley in Boston to be admitted to the bar
• has passion for the law and "tenderness" for books
• 1762 visit from cousin Sam Adams
• critical of farmers each spring who become "untamed beasts"
• 1762 visit to Rev. William Smith with friend Richard Cranch
• wins case of apprentice denied education by master
• 1764 marries Abigail who shares his passion for ideas and "fits of opinion"
• 1765 August writes first political essay for Boston Gazette, but unsigned
• to "quiet the beast" and affirm rights of Englishmen
• critical of wealth of the "velvet rich" like Hancock
• defends Hancock's Liberty seizure case 1768
• 1772 defends Captain Preston

Links:

• Adams Chronicles