http://henryadamsofbraintree.comPresident John Adams, erected a monument to his memory in the old church yard at Quincy with the inscription, "In memory of Henry Adams who took his flight from the Dragon persecution in Devonshire, England, and alighted with eight sons near Mt. Wollaston. One of the sons returned to England; and after taking time to explore t he country, four removed to Medfield, and two to Chelmsford. One only, Joseph, who lies here at his left hand, remained here,--an original proprietor in the township of Braintree." The monument commemorates "the piety, humility, simplicity, prudence, patience, temperance, frugality, industry and perseverance" of the Adams ancestors. President John Quincy Adams dissented from this opinion of his father, that Henry Adams came from Devonshire. After giving the matter particular and thorough investigation, both in this country and in England, he published it as his conviction that Henry Adams was from Braintree in the county of Essex, on the east coast of England. "The statement in the Alden Collection," he says, "that the first Henry came from Devonshire was received by the collector of Epitaphs from my father; but I believe it was not from Devonshire but from Braintree in the county of Essex, that he came. My father supposed that he formed part of the company that came with Gov. Winthrop in 1630, most of whom were from Devonshire. But at the time my father formed this opinion Gov. Winthrop's Journal had not been published." Winthrop's Journal, I. 37, says, "1632: 14 Aug; The Braintree Company which had begun to settle down at Mt. Wollaston by order of Court, removed to Newtown. These were Mr. Hooker's Company." Hooker himself arrived in Sept., 1633, but his Company, which was mostly made up from Chelmsford, perhaps also from Braintree and other neighbor ng villages of Essex county,--had arrived the year before. Hence it appears highly probable that Henry Adams from Braintree in Essex joined Hooker 's Company and arrived in Boston in 1632. Dr. James Savage, author of the Genealogical Dictionary of the early first comers of New England, concurs in the opinion of President John Quincy Adams. The brothers Adams [sons] were among the active citizens of Chelmsford, in England. Moreover, there may have been other persons of the Adams name who came in Hooker's company, and removed with him from Newtown to Hartford and vicinity. They may have been kindred of Henry Adams. It is a matter of regret that so little has been preserved, and is positively known of the ancestry, life and character of the noted progenitor of t he Adams family of Quincy. It is known that he was a malster as well as yeoman, or farmer, and a plain, unassuming man of tact and ability, who came to America for a better opportunity for his large family. There is nothing to show that he bore any titles, or assumed any rank among nobility. While there were many different styles of insignia in use--as many as twenty-eight different coats-of-arms, it is said upon good authority, in the A dams family,--there is nothing to indicate which, if any at all, were ever made use of by Henry Adams.