Born on November 11, 1744, Abigail Smith Adams was the first lady from 1797 until 1801 while her husband, John Adams, was President of the United States. She was the mother of President John Quincy Adams as well. A strong and intellectual woman, she lived in the American colonies for years while her husband was a circuit judge, and then a diplomat across the Atlantic in Paris and in Holland. She died in 1818.