Adams was born in 1864 in Zorra, Canada West.
There she studied under Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith along with Cornelia Saleno and Eva Brook Donly.
[1] Adams taught for a time at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, before traveling to Europe.
She settled in Montréal, Quebec, where she taught weaving and wood carving to wounded soldiers.
[1] In January 1926, she reviewed the work of charitable organizations in the city, and spoke on behalf of the ones she felt did the most to "alleviate handicaps of the underprivileged".