Braintree


Braintree,

town (1991 pop. 30,975) and district, Essex, E England, between the Pant (Blackwater) and Brain river valleys. It has textile, plastic, and metal-product industries. Bricks from ancient Roman roads (the region is bisected by the line of the Roman Stane Street) were used in the building of the town church. The district comprises two towns: Braintree and Bocking.

Braintree,

town (1990 pop. 33,836), E Mass., a suburb of Boston; inc. 1640. Metal, rubber, and paper are among its manufactures. Braintree included QuincyQuincy.
1 City (1990 pop. 39,681), seat of Adams co., W Ill., on a bluff above the Mississippi; inc. 1839. It is a trade, industrial (steel parts), and distribution center in a grain and livestock area. The city and county were named for John Quincy Adams.
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 (birthplace of John AdamsAdams, John,
1735–1826, 2d President of the United States (1797–1801), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass., grad. Harvard, 1755. John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, founded one of the most distinguished families of the United States; their son, John Quincy
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 and John Quincy AdamsAdams, John Quincy,
1767–1848, 6th President of the United States (1825–29), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass.; son of John Adams and Abigail Adams and father of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86).
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) until 1792 and RandolphRandolph,
town (1990 pop. 30,093), Norfolk co., E Mass.; settled c.1710, set off from Braintree and inc. 1793. A suburb of Boston, it has diverse light manufacturing.
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 until 1793. John HancockHancock, John,
1737–93, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Braintree, Mass. From an uncle he inherited Boston's leading mercantile firm, and naturally he opposed the Stamp Act (1765) and other British trade
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 and Gen. Sylvanus ThayerThayer, Sylvanus,
1785–1872, American soldier and educator, b. Braintree, Mass., grad. Dartmouth, 1807, and West Point, 1808. During the War of 1812 he served as an engineer, and afterward he was sent to Europe to study military schools and fortifications.
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, superintendent of West Point from 1817 to 1833, were born in Braintree. The Thayer Academy there was founded by the general.