Diary, John Quincy Adams, 1827
President Adams' diary entries from June 1827 detail his regular visits to the White House garden. In this entry he describes the variety of plants in the garden, from fruit trees to common weeds. The President relied on his gardener, John Ousley, to identify many of the plants. Apparently, Adams encountered the living form of tarragon, an herb, for the first time on June 5.
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The Diaries of John Quincy Adams: A Digital Collection. Massachusetts Historical Society, 2005. <a href="http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php/doc?id=jqad37_214">View original</a>.
6/5/1827
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Diary, John Quincy Adams, 1825
Sixth president, John Quincy Adams, often swam in <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/40">Tiber Creek</a> near the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/66">White House</a>. In 1825, he commandeered an abandoned boat and rowed it down the creek, planning to swim back. A sudden storm arose, sweeping the leaking boat into the Potomac where it began to sink. Adams scrambled overboard, but the weight of his clothes dragged him underwater. A White House steward, Antoine Guista, who was with Adams, jumped overboard and rescued the president. Washington buzzed for days about the President's close call.
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The Diaries of John Quincy Adams Diary 49, snippet at White House Historical Society. <a href="http://www.whitehousehistory.org/presentations/waddell-artist-visits-white-house-past/president-adams-essay.html">View original snippet</a>.
6/13/1825
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