QUINCY

city, seat (1825) of Adams county, western Illinois, U.S., on the Mississippi River, there bridged to Missouri. Settled in 1822 by John Wood (12th governor of Illinois, 186061), it was first known as Bluffs. It became the county seat on March 4, 1825, the day that President John Quincy Adams was inaugurated, and was renamed in his honour. As a river town, Quincy was an important stop for travelers. It became a part of the Underground Railroad (a system by which slaves were assisted in escaping to the North and to Canada), and during the winter of 183839 Mormons found refuge there before proceeding northward along the river to Nauvoo. The city declined with the passing of the steamboat era in the 1870s, but after 1920 industrial development stimulated its growth. An agricultural and manufacturing economy now prevails. The city's Washington Park (originally John's Square) was the site of the sixth debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas (Oct. 13, 1858). Quincy College was established in 1860, Gem City College (business school) in 1870, John Wood Community College in 1974, and Blessing-Reiman College of Nursing in 1891. Other institutions include Our Lady of Angels Franciscan Seminary, the Chaddock Boys School for the emotionally disturbed (Methodist, 1900), and Illinois Veterans Home (1887). Quinisippi Island Park, bordered by the Mississippi River and Quincy Bay, has been developed as a recreation area. Inc. village, 1834; city, 1840. Pop. (1990) 39,681. city, Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on Boston Harbor, just southeast of Boston. In 1625 the site, which was settled by Captain Wollaston, was given the name Mount Wollaston, and a short time afterward, under the leadership of Thomas Morton, it was renamed Merry Mount; in 1627 Morton, an anti-Puritan, was exiled for celebrating May Day. Set off from Braintree and incorporated as a town (township) in 1792, it was renamed to honour Colonel John Quincy, a prominent local resident. Quincy is notable as the home of the celebrated Adams family; the birthplaces (formerly in Braintree) of the two U.S. presidents John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams are preserved within the Adams National Historic Site. The crypts of the two presidents and their wives are in the United First Parish Church (1828). John Hancock, the Revolutionary patriot, was also born in the portion of Braintree that became Quincy. The city was once famed for its granite quarries, which supplied stone for King's Chapel and the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. It was also a major shipbuilding centre, but the shipyards were closed in 1986. Now, Quincy has a service-oriented economy, with finance, insurance, and real estate accounting for the largest share of employment. It is the seat of Eastern Nazarene College (1900) and Quincy (junior) College (1956). Inc. city, 1888. Pop. (1990) 84,985; (1996 est.) 85,532.