THE ADAMS FAMILY ACROSS THE GENERATIONS
John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Johnson first crossed paths as youngsters in France in 1779. Louisa’s father, Joshua Johnson, was a wealthy American merchant who had married an Englishwoman named Catherine Nuth. The Johnsons had temporarily relocated with their young children from England to France during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Eleven-year-old John Quincy and his father were in France working on behalf of the Colonies.
The two young people met again in the mid-1790s. By then, John Quincy was a U.S. diplomat, and Louisa’s father was the American consul in London. The Johnson home was a gathering place for Americans posted abroad. Attending social events hosted by the Johnsons, John Quincy began to court Louisa.
The couple were married on July 26, 1797.
Immediately after the
