I detta hus låg år 1782 källaren Sveriges Vapen. Mellan den 23 november och den 31 december 1782 bodde den blivande amerikanske presidenten John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) på Sveriges Vapen.
John Quincy Adams var vid det tillfället på resa från Sankt Petersburg till sin far, John Adams, i Haag.
År 1825 blev John Quincy Adams USA:s sjätte president. Hans far var president i USA mellan åren 1797 och 1801.
John Quincy Adams dagbok, som bland annat berättar om när han anlände till Stockholm i slutet av november 1782, finns publicerad på internet (se länk till höger). I Stockholm träffade han Carl Bernhard Wadström i en bokhandel. Wadström blev Adams guide i Stockholm och tog även emot honom i sitt hem i Norrköping i januari 1783.
Här följer ett utdrag ur ett brev från John Quincy Adams till sin mor Abigail Adams:
"Hague, July 23rd, 1783. [...] I set off from Petersburg, the 19/30 of last October, in company with Count Greco, an Italian gentleman, with whom I was acquainted, at that place; and on account of the badness of the roads and weather, and of our having a great number of considerable water passages, which had began to freeze over, did not arrive in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, until the 25th [sic] of November. The distance is about 800 English miles.
I stayed at Stockholm about six weeks, and was much pleased with the polite manner in which the people of the country treat strangers. Sweden is the country in Europe which pleases me the most, that is, of those I have seen, because their manners resemble more those of my own country than any I have seen.
The King is a man of great ability. In the space of one day from being the most dependant, he rendered himself one of the most absolute monarchs of Europe. But he is extremely popular, and has persuaded his people that they are free, and that he has only restored them their ancient constitution. They think they are free, and are therefore happy. However, in the interior parts of the Kingdom, he has lost a little of his popularity, because he has laid some heavy taxes upon brandy and some other articles.
I left Stockholm the 31st December and was obliged to stop at a small town, called Norrköping, at about 120 miles from Stockholm, for a fortnight, because of a very heavy fall of snow, which happened just at that time. [...]" [Ur Writings of John Quincy Adams, vol. 1.]
