His father was a builder and lumber dealer who died when Adam was two years old, after which his mother moved back to her home county of Dumfriesshire, settling in Closeburn.

He settled in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and began teaching languages and mathematics at Meadville Academy, where one of his students was George W. Cullum.

[2] Adam later moved to Tecumseh, Michigan, and married Armenia Bradley, a native of Barre, New York, in August 1838.

His wife died on July 8, 1870, and Adam married a widowed sister of hers, Cornelia M. Woimple, on November 5, 1873.

Following that, he was elected state treasurer and served from 1842 until 1845, when Governor John S. Barry appointed him auditor general to complete the term of the deceased Charles G. Hammond.