John Quincy Adams sails from Charlestown on board the Horace Benjamin Beckford.

Accompanied by his wife, Louisa, and son Charles Francis Adams, Adams is bound for St. Petersburg to assume his duties as U.S. Ambassador to Russia. They arrive on October 22, 1809. The family returns when Adams is appointed Secretary of State by President Monroe, arriving in Quincy on August 18, 1817, Charles Francis Adams’ tenth birthday.