25 March 1774
Adams, Samuel (1722-1803)
Autograph letter signed
Title: to Elbridge Gerry
Written by Adams, who later signed the Declaration of Independence, as a member and clerk of the colonial assembly in Massachusetts to Gerry, also a future signer of the Declaration, as a member of the assembly. References a letter from Gerry that explained the violence in Marblehead, known as the Smallpox War or the Marblehead Riots, and asked for military intervention. Gerry was one of the leading citizens of the town who wanted to build a hospital to inoculate the populace against smallpox. Once it was built, the populace, fearful that inoculations spread the disease further, destroyed…
GLC01213