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67 A.B.A. J. 1011 (1981)
John Quincy Adams and the Baltimore Pirates

handle is hein.journals/abaj67 and id is 1011 raw text is: A; if ,~ By Walker Lewis No ONE has ever called the New Eng- land Adams family phlegmatic, least of all perhaps John Quincy (1767-1848). Systematically trained for public life, he is our only presidential son of a pres- idential father. En route, he was a Har- vard professor, a United States senator, minister to the Netherlands and to Rus- sia, and secretary of state. In addition, he was offered but declined a seat on the Supreme Court. After his presi- dency he served 17 years in Congress, where he became known as Old Man Eloquent. Still active at 80, he died on the floor of the House of Representa- tives. Like most Adamses, he was thin skinned. His diary furnished the safety valve by which he relieved his feelings. It is pockmarked with explosions. His denunciations of those whom he saw on the side of sin were seldom unbiased and never restrained. The diary is flawed, but it is never dull. At the time with which we are con- cerned, John Quincy Adams's pet abhorrence was privateering. Interna- tional law permitted nations at war to authorize their merchant seamen to capture and sell ships and cargoes of their enemies. During the War of 1812 one of the major centers of the business was Baltimore, where a leading light was John Stuart Skinner, the postmas- ter. Skinner (1788-1851) is best known as the companion of Francis Scott Key when he was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner, which Skinner assisted in having published. He was the American agent for the exchange of prisoners of war and had accompanied John Quincy Adams the ~Pirates Key to the British fleet in order to seek the release of Key's friend, Dr. William Beanes of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, whom the British had captured and taken with them as a hostage after their attack on Washington in 1814. They ar- rived while the British were preparing to attack Baltimore and were kept pris- oners during this event. This afforded them grandstand seats for the bom- bardment of Fort McHenry that gave rise to our national anthem. In 1816 President Madison appointed Skinner postmaster of Baltimore. Al- though it was a post of considerable political power, Skinner held it under six successive presidents of varying party affiliations, including two such diverse individuals as John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He lost it because the sixth, William Henry Har- rison, promoted him to assistant post- master general, a plum of such mag- nitude that it was snatched away from him when the Democrats returned to power under President Polk. Ironically, he met his death by falling down the stairs in the Baltimore post office. Skinner was versatile, if nothing else. Among other things, he established and edited the American Farmer and the American Turf Register. He achieved a solid reputation as an agricultural ex- pert, so much so that Lafayette con- sulted him during his 1824 visit to the United States, and they became bosom friends. When Skinner later sent his son to school in France, Lafayette acted as his guardian. In gratitude, Skinner sent Lafayette specimens of plants and animals indigenous to America. These included opposums and raccoons, and we suspect that France has never been the same since. -w

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