tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post115514110675401113..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Samuel Adams: What did "Sam the Publican" mean?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-43090753054385036532008-11-26T15:57:00.000-05:002008-11-26T15:57:00.000-05:00Yes, one hallmark of the portrayal of Samuel Adams...Yes, one hallmark of the portrayal of Samuel Adams as an inveterate troublemaker is referring to him as “Sam.” Most of his contemporaries, especially his colleagues, referred to him as “Samuel.” However, every so often one does see a “Sam Adams,” as in the Rev. William Gordon’s letter to John Adams, 19 Oct 1780. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for finding the “tippling, nasty, vicious” phrase. John Adams was never as happy with popular politics as his cousin. <BR/><BR/>And thanks also for the word about the footnote in Ira Stoll’s book. I just got a copy this week, and am looking forward to sampling it. It’s great to know this little entry has had its intended effect.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-62272469879623193412008-11-26T13:53:00.000-05:002008-11-26T13:53:00.000-05:00Several comments:Another interesting aspect of Joh...Several comments:<BR/><BR/>Another interesting aspect of John Miller's use of the Mein quote is that he changes "Samuel the Publican" to "Sam the Publican". Miller seemed particularly intent on making Samuel into "Sam", a nickname apparently not often used to describe Adams in his lifetime.<BR/><BR/>Thanks to the magic of Google Book Search, I can relate that the quote "tippling, nasty, vicious crew" comes from John Adams's diary, where he describes pub denizens as such.<BR/><BR/>This post is cited in a footnote in Ira Stoll's new biography of Samuel Adams, where Stoll points out the probable meaning of "Sam the Publican", Good work!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10662430672900046101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-87875239640620481502007-05-23T21:59:00.000-05:002007-05-23T21:59:00.000-05:00A little near-contemporaneous confirmation for my ...A little near-contemporaneous confirmation for my reading of Samuel Adams’s nickname from John Eliot’s <I>A Biographical Dictionary, Containing a Brief Account of the First Settlers, and Other Eminent Characters...in New-England</I>, published in 1809: Adams’s “first office in the town was that of tax gatherer; which the opposite party in politicks often alluded to, and in their controversies would style him Samuel the <I>Publican</I>.”J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.com