Andrew Adams (politician)

Andrew Adams
Born	(1736-01-07)January 7, 1736 Stratford, Connecticut
Died	November 26, 1797(1797-11-26) (aged 61) Litchfield, Connecticut
Resting place	Litchfield
Known for	signer of the Articles of Confederation

Andrew Adams (January 7, 1736 – November 26, 1797) was an American lawyer, jurist, and political leader in Litchfield, Connecticut, during the American Revolutionary War. He was a delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress and later Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Early life

Andrew Adams was born in Stratford, the son of Samuel (1703–1788) and Mary Fairchild (1698–1803) Adams. His father practiced law in Stratford and was a judge of Fairfield County. Adams attended Yale and graduated in 1760 before reading law with his father. He first practiced in Stamford. In 1772, he was named the king's attorney for Litchfield County. He moved to Litchfield in 1774 and made his home there for the rest of his life.

Adams was a Freemason. He was a member of St. Paul's Lodge No 11 in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Political career

With the coming of the American Revolution, Adams was a member of Connecticut's Committee of Safety. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1776 until 1781 and was its speaker in 1779 and 1780. During the Revolutionary War, he also served as a colonel in the Connecticut militia. He was appointed to the Second Continental Congress in 1778 and signed the Articles of Confederation.Adams had first started studying law in 1764 in the city of Litchfield, Connecticut. He had taken several roles and elected positions during his time as an attorney. While serving as a delegate for the Continental Congress, he was a “signatory to the articles of Confederation in 1778” but is considered a founding father even though he did not sign the Declaration of Independence. He is considered a leading player state politics but national politics as well. Johnathan Trumbull the governor of Connecticut at the time wrote to other congressman including “Roger Sherman, Titus Hosmer and Adams” on military movements in what is now known as the states of New England. Adams and other congressman Hosmer answered the governor’s message, stating they would take the opportunity to write to Major Bigelow and keep an eye on the situation through organizing a Board of Treasury but little progress had been made. After leaving the continental congress in 1788, a year later Adams had been named a member of the Connecticut executive council by Governor Trumbull. Adams was also granted a seat as a judge that same year and he was later granted the position of chief justice in 1793 which was the position he kept till his death. Andrew Adams was remembered for his post of Chief justice of the Superior Court and lays buried in the west cemetery located in Litchfield.

Supreme Court

In 1789, he was named to Connecticut's Executive Council as an associate justice of Connecticut's Supreme Court. Then in 1793 he was advanced to chief justice of Connecticut, and remained in this post until his death in Litchfield in 1797. He is buried in the East Cemetery in Litchfield.

External links

• United States Congress. "Andrew Adams (id: A000029)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Andrew Adams at Find a Grave