John Adams Sr. was born on February 8, 1691, in Braintree, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph Adams Jr. and Hannah Bass Adams. He descended from a family established in New England since the seventeenth century. The Adamses were substantial yeoman farmers rather than members of a hereditary aristocracy. Their position rested on land, steady work, Congregational religion, and participation in town government. Adams grew up learning farming, animal husbandry, building maintenance, accounts, and the habits of communal responsibility expected in a Massachusetts town. His formal schooling was probably local and practical. He could read, write, calculate, and engage with scripture and civic affairs, but he did not attend college. He worked as a farmer and shoemaker, a skilled trade that supplemented agricultural income. In 1734 he married Susanna Boylston, daughter of Peter Boylston, from a family with medical and mercantile connections. Their sons were John, Peter Boylston, and Elihu. The household was disciplined, religious, and ambitious for its children. Adams served as a deacon in the Congregational church, a role that gave him lasting local respect and the familiar title “Deacon John.” He also held numerous town offices, including selectman, tax collector, constable, and militia lieutenant. These responsibilities brought colonial government into daily life. Town meetings required men to debate roads, schools, taxes, poor relief, and representation. The elder Adams’s example taught his sons that public service was an ordinary duty rather than a distant profession. Recognizing John Jr.’s intellectual ability, the family sacrificed to send him to Harvard College, even though the son initially resisted the ministry for which college often prepared students.