Editing John Adams (mutineer)

{{Short description|Last Bounty mutineer (1767–1829)}}
{{About|the mutineer|the President of the United States|John Adams|other uses|John Adams (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = John Adams
| image       = John Adams, 1829.jpg
| caption     = John Adams
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1767|07|04}}
| birth_place = St. Johns, [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1829|03|05|1767|07|04}}
| death_place = [[Pitcairn Island]]
| occupation  = Sailor
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* Vahineatua ''(consort of)''
* {{marriage|[[Teio]]|1825|1829}}
}} 
| partner     = Teio ({{circa|1804}} until formally married)
| parents     = 
| children    = Dinah, Rachel, Hannah and [[George Adams (magistrate)|George Adams]]
}}
'''John Adams''', known as '''Jack Adams''' (4 July 1767<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/John-Adams/6000000001455910268|title=John Adams|website=geni_family_tree|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-10}}</ref>– 5 March 1829), was the last survivor of the {{HMS|Bounty||2}} [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutineers]] who settled on [[Pitcairn Island]] in January 1790, the year after the mutiny. His real name was John Adams, but he used the name '''Alexander Smith''' until he was discovered in 1808 by Captain [[Mayhew Folger]] of the American whaling ship ''Topaz''. His children used the surname "Adams".<ref>Frederick Chamier ''Jack Adams, the Mutineer '' 1838</ref>

== Early life ==
Almost nothing is known about the early life of Adams. An article from the ''Mona's Herald'', dated April 1876, states that Adams had, for some time, resided in [[Douglas, Isle of Man]].<ref>Mona's Herald, Thursday, April 27, 1876; Page: 11</ref>

== Pitcairn ==
[[File:John Adams house2.PNG|thumb|left|1831 engraving of John Adams' Wooden House on Pitcairn Island]]

The [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutineers of HMS ''Bounty'']] and their [[Tahiti]]an companions settled on the island and set fire to the ''Bounty''. Only the ballast stone remains of the wreck in Bounty Bay. 
[[File:Edward Gennys Fanshawe, John Adams house and grave Pitcairn's Island, Augt 12th 1849.jpg|thumb|1849 painting of John Adams' Wooden House and grave Pitcairn Island]]
Although the settlers were able to survive by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among the settlers. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills had taken the lives of most of the mutineers and Tahitian men. John Adams, [[Ned Young]], and [[Matthew Quintal]] were the last three mutineers surviving in 1799 when the thuggish Quintal, while drunk, reportedly threatened to kill the entire community if he could not have [[Fletcher Christian]]'s widow as his own consort, and in response Adams and Young lured him to Young's house and killed him with a hatchet. 
[[File:FMIB 36498 Wooden House Built by the Mutineers of the 'Bounty,' Pitcairn Island.jpeg|thumb|left|1908 photograph of wooden house built by the mutineers of the ''Bounty'', Pitcairn Island]]
[[File:Descendants of the mutineers, 1862.jpg|thumb|250px|Descendants of the mutineers John Adams and Matthew Quintal on [[Norfolk Island]], 1862. From left to right: John Adams (1827–1897), son of George Adams; John Quintal (1820–1912), son of Arthur Quintal; George Adams (1804–1873), son of John Adams; Arthur Quintal (1795–1873), son of Matthew Quintal]]
Having taken effective control of the 19-member strong colony after the 1793 massacre, Adams and Young then turned to the [[Scriptures]] using the ship's [[Bounty Bible|Bible]] as their guide for a new and peaceful society. As a result, Adams and Young embraced Christianity and taught the children to read and write using the Bible. Young eventually died of an asthmatic infection in 1800, but Adams continued his work of educating the women and children. The Pitcairners also converted to Christianity. The Pitcairners would later convert from their existing form of Christianity to [[Adventism]] after a successful Adventist mission in the 1890s.

The American sailing ship ''[[Mayhew Folger|Topaz]]'' was the first to rediscover Pitcairn in 1808. Adams was eventually granted amnesty for the mutiny. On 17 December 1825 Adams was married to [[Teio]], or 'Mary'. Teio had already borne Adams' only son, [[George Adams (magistrate)|George Adams]], in 1804.

[[File:Grave of John Adams.jpg|thumb|right|The grave of John Adams on Pitcairn Island]]
[[File:John Adams Display.jpg|alt=Part of the display in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, showing (1) the portrait of John Adams (1829) by John Alfred Vinter, after Richard Beechey; (2) Fragment of copper sheathing from HMS Bounty and (3) the original marker from John Adam's grave, 1829.|thumb|Part of the display in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, showing (1) the portrait of John Adams (1829) by John Alfred Vinter, after Richard Beechey; (2) Fragment of copper sheathing from HMS Bounty and (3) the original marker from John Adam's grave, 1829.]]
Adams' grave on Pitcairn is the only known grave site of a ''Bounty'' mutineer. It has a replacement headstone, the original lead-covered wooden grave marker having been taken back to Britain where it is now on display in the [[National Maritime Museum]] in [[Greenwich]], London.

[[File:Stamp pitcairn islands 1,5 d.jpg|thumb|Adams and his house on a [[Pitcairn stamp]]]]
The main settlement and capital of Pitcairn, [[Adamstown, Pitcairn Island|Adamstown]], is named after Adams.

Adams is portrayed by [[Philip Martin Brown]] in the 1984 film ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]''.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Conway, Christiane (2005). ''Letters from the Isle of Man – The Bounty-Correspondence of Nessy and Peter Heywood''. The Manx Experience. {{ISBN|1-873120-77-X}}.
* Wilson, Erle (1959). ''Adams of the Bounty''. Criterion Books.{{OCLC|1743726}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikisource-inline|list=
** {{Cite DNB|wstitle=Adams, John (1760?–1829)|short=x |noicon=x}}
** {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Adams, John (mutineer)|year=1905|short=x |noicon=x}}
** {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Adams, John (mutineer)|year=1920 |short=x |noicon=x}} }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ned Young]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of rulers of the Pitcairn Islands|Leader of the Pitcairn Islands]]|years=25 December 1800 – 5 March 1829}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Joshua Hill (Pitcairn Island leader)|Joshua Hill]]|as=President}}
{{s-end}}

{{Pitcairn mayors}}
{{Mutiny on the Bounty}}
{{Pirates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John}}
[[Category:English emigrants to the Pitcairn Islands]]
[[Category:Pitcairn Islands politicians]]
[[Category:Royal Navy sailors]]
[[Category:1767 births]]
[[Category:1829 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century pirates]]
[[Category:HMS Bounty mutineers]]
[[Category:Pitcairn Islands Christians]]
[[Category:Castaways]]
[[Category:English pirates]]