[1] Born Annette Grace Abbott in Prattville, California, to storekeeper Hiram Brown Abbott and teacher Annette Frances Stubbs,[2] Adams was educated at Chico State Normal School and the University of California, Berkeley, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in 1904, and her law degree in 1912.

In 1920, she was appointed as the first female Assistant Attorney General of the United States, an office which she resigned in 1921.

She had a successful private law practice until 1935, when she was appointed Assistant Special Counsel of U.S. Oil litigation.

She won election to a twelve-year term on the court of appeal later in 1942, but retired in 1952 for health reasons.

[6][7] On August 13, 1906, Annette Abbott married Martin Houston "Mart" Adams, with the service performed by Judge J.D.