John Adams was a farmer, architect of American independence, and statesman born a mile from this location on October 30, 1735. He served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress from 1774 to 1777, nominated George Washington to command the Continental Army in 1775, and was a co-author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was principal author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, negotiated the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War in 1783, and served as the first American minister to the Court of St. James from 1785 to 1788. He was the first vice president of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. He died on July 4, 1826.