ADAMS, John (1735-1826). Autograph letter signed ("John Adams") to Mr. John Cranch, The Hague, 31 January 1784.

Two pages, bifolium, 185 x 220mm (second leaf separated, some adhesive remnants near the edges, biographical label adhered to the top edge, a few chips at margins).

Adams regrets his inability to visit his brother-in-law's nephew. Writing while on a short trip to Great Britain a year before his appointment as the first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, Adams responds to Cranch's gift of two hares: "I left London on the third, so that your kind Present of Game afforded a Regale to Mr Stockdale in Piccadilly"; he adds that he is no less obliged for the gift and sends his thanks. He then refers to his correspondent as "the Nephew of my most valuable Brother Cranch", referring to the legislator and Adams' brother-in-law Richard Cranch, who married Abigail Adams's sister in 1762. Cranch, a staunch Federalist, was a delegate to the Massachusetts convention to ratify the federal constitution. Further stating his regrets for not visiting, Adams assures that if he had time on his trip, he "wished to have made an excursion to that Part of England where the Relations of my Friends Mr Palmer, and those of my Brother reside". This refers to Joseph Palmer, who, while born in England, was an ardent supporter of American independence, fighting at Lexington and serving as a colonel for the Massachusetts militia and brigadier-general for Suffolk County during the Revolution. Published in the Papers of John Adams, Vol. 15.