[2] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1865 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1868.

[2] He was a teacher for the American Union Commission in Georgia from 1865 to 1866, and then engaged in the private practice of law in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1866 to 1879.

[2] Adams received a recess appointment from President Grover Cleveland on May 17, 1895, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri vacated by Judge Henry Samuel Priest.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 9, 1895, and received his commission the same day.

[3] Adams received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt on May 20, 1905, to a joint seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Amos Madden Thayer.