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Continental Congresses

Andrew Adams (1736–1797)

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Andrew Adams (1736–1797)

Andrew Adams served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from Connecticut (1778), was a signer of the Articles of Confederation (1778), and, just prior to his death, served as a member of the Connecticut Supreme Court (1789-97), rising to serve as chief justice of that body (1793-97) [1].

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Born in Stratford, Connecticut, on 7 January 1736, Adams was, according to the small biography of him put together in an 1856 work, “[b]eing of a very respectable family.” [2] According to the Daughters of the American Revolution, Adams was the son of Samuel Adams, no apparent relation to the Samuel Adams who played such a pivotal role in the period before and during the American Revolution, and his wife Mary (née Fairchild) Adams. As other young men during this time, he apparently received a “classical education” (the description of studies dealing with history, languages, and other subjects), and graduated from Yale College (now Yale University), in Connecticut in 1760. Four years later, in 1764, Adams began the practice of law in the city of Litchfield, Connecticut, and he soon became one of that city’s leading attorneys. He married Eunice Buel, and they would have one child, a son, also named Andrew Adams.

Adams served in numerous elected and appointed positions in Connecticut. He also served as a member of the Connecticut Council of Safety for two years. When the war against Britain broke out in 1775, he volunteered for service in the Connecticut militia, seeing action and rising to the rank of Colonel. He then returned to Connecticut, where he was elected to the state House of Representatives, serving from 1776 to 1781, and serving as the Speaker of that body in 1779 and 1780. More importantly, Adams served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778. And while he did not sign the Declaration of Independence, he was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation in 1778. In his history of the men and correspondence of those delegates who served in the Continental Congress, historian Edmund Cody Burnett explains that Adams was elected on 11 October 1777 but “did not attend in 1777.” [3] According to the “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005,” Adams is listed as a member of the Continental Congress, having served, according to the directory, in 1778, the same year that he signed the Articles of Confederation, the first official governmental blueprint of the new American nation that came into existence in 1783. [4]

Andrew Adams was considered a leading player in not only Connecticut politics of the period, but in national politics as well. In August 1778, Jonathan Trumbull, the governor of Connecticut and the older brother of Continental Congress delegate Joseph Trumbull, wrote to Roger Sherman, Titus Hosmer, and Adams, on the military movements being conducted in the area of what is now the states of New England:

Our expectations from the expedition against Rhode Island are again like[ly] to be blasted. The French fleet, which have suffered considerably from the late very unusual gale of wind, have taken a resolution to go for Boston to refit and repair their damages. This event will put our army on too precarious a footing to remain long on an island; unless some sudden and desperate attempt is made (which I wish them to avoid) I think their operation against the enemy must cease and their whole attention be turned to getting themselves safe landed on the continent. I wish this may be affected without loss, I was in hopes the fleet would have run themselves into New London [Connecticut], where I think their damages might be repaired with safety to them, and the same time their lying in harbour so contiguous to Rhode Island might have proved a security to the operations of the army. But they are gone, and with them are fled our fond hopes of success from this enterprise. This event will put a new aspect on our affairs. The Lord reigneth is our hope; let it be our trust and confidence. [5]

Adams and Hosmer, from their posts as delegates to the Continental Congress from Philadelphia, answered the governor’s message: “The desire we have of preserving every appearance of attention in our correspondence with your Excellency induces us to embrace this opportunity to write to Major Bigelow [6], though nothing very material hath come to our knowledge worthy to be communicated. The finances of the States are at present the principal subject of the deliberations of Congress. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of every week are set apart for this purpose; but little progress is yet made. A plan of organizing a Board of Treasury is laid before Congress, and is to be taken into consideration this day. It is long and complex-time will not allow us to attempt giving you an abstract of it.” [7]

In 1789, a year after leaving the Continental Congress, Adams was named by Governor Trumbull as a member of the Connecticut Executive Council. That same year, Trumbull appointed Adams to a seat as a judge on the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Rising to become one of the leading counselors on that court, in 1793 Adams was named as chief justice, a post he held until his death.

Adams died in Litchfield, Connecticut, on 26 November 1797 at the age of 63. His remains were interred, according to his Congressional biography, in the East Cemetery in Litchfield, Connecticut. Today, that burial ground is officially known as the West Cemetery, still located in Litchfield. In 1909, historian Dwight C. Kilbourn wrote that, at that time, Adams’ tombstone in the West Burying Ground was “a rapidly crumbling marble slab.” The stone read, “In memory of the Hon. Andrew Adams, Esq., Chief Judge of the Superior Court, who died November 27, 1797, in the 63d year of his age. Having filled many distinguished offices with great ability and dignity, he was promoted to the highest judicial office in the State, which he held for several years, in which his eminent talents shone with uncommon lustre, and were exerted to the great advantage of the public and the honor of the High Court in which he presided. He made an early profession of religion, and zealously sought to protect its true Interests. He lived a Life and died the Death of a Christian. His filial Piety and paternal tenderness are held in sweet Remembrance.” [8]

[1] [1] Adams biography from “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005” (House Document 108-222) (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005), 541.

[2] [2] Marshall, James V., “The United States Manual of Biography and History” (Philadelphia: James B. Smith & Co., 1856), 136.

[3] [3] See the short entry on Adams in Edmund Cody Burnett, ed., “Letters of Members of the Continental Congress” (Washington, DC: Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington; eight volumes, 1921-36), II:xxxix.

[4] [4] “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. The Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and The Congress of the United States, From the First Through the One Hundred Eighth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 2005, Inclusive” (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005), 541.

[5] [5] Trumbull to Sherman, Hosmer, and Adams, 25 August 1778, in “The Papers of Jonathan Trumbull” in “Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Seventh Series, Vol. II” (Boston: Published by the Society, 1902), 256-57.

[6] [6] No name is given here for this “Major Bigelow”; however, Benedict Arnold mentions in his Memoirs that a “Major Bigelow” served as the head of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment, and lists of officers of this unit show a Colonel Timothy Bigelow to have been at its command, so it may be assumed that the unnamed Bigelow may be him.

[7] [7] Adams and Hosmer to Trumbull, 29 August 1778, in “The Papers of Jonathan Trumbull,” 257-59.

[8] [8] Kilbourn, Dwight C., “The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1709-1909: Biographical Sketches of Members. History and Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School. Historical Notes” (Litchfield, CT: Published by the Author, 1909; reprint, Clark, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange, 2002), 217.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
"Andrew Adams (1736–1797)." Continental Congresses, edited by Mark Grossman, Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Cong_0004.
APA 7th
Andrew Adams (1736–1797). Continental Congresses, In M. Grossman (Ed.), Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Cong_0004.
CMOS 17th
"Andrew Adams (1736–1797)." Continental Congresses, Edited by Mark Grossman. Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Cong_0004.