James Hopkins Adams

James Hopkins Adams
66th Governor of South Carolina
In office December 11, 1854 – December 9, 1856
Lieutenant	Richard de Treville
Preceded by	John Lawrence Manning
Succeeded by	Robert Francis Withers Allston
Member of the South Carolina Senate from the Richland District
In office November 24, 1851 – November 27, 1854
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the Richland District
In office November 27, 1848 – November 25, 1850
In office December 9, 1840 – November 28, 1842
In office November 24, 1834 – November 26, 1838
Personal details
Born	(1812-03-15)March 15, 1812 Minervaville, South Carolina
Died	Live Oak Plantation, Richland District, South Carolina
Resting place	St. John's Congaree Episcopal Church, Congaree, South Carolina
Spouse(s)	Jane Margaret Scott
Children	Eleven children
Alma mater	Yale University
Committees	Signer of the Ordinance of Secession
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	South Carolina state militia
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	South Carolina Militia

James Hopkins Adams (March 15, 1812 – July 13, 1861) was an American politician from South Carolina. He served in the South Carolina Legislature and was the 66th governor of the state.

Biography

Governor James Hopkins Adams of South Carolina.

Adams was born in Minervaville, South Carolina, in 1812 to Henry Walker Adams and Mary Goodwyn Adams. Both of his parents had died by the time James was three years old, and therefore he was raised by his grandfather, Joel Adams, the patriarch of the Adams family of South Carolina. He graduated from Yale College in 1831. In 1832 he joined the South Carolina Nullification Convention which deliberated until 1833 on whether states could nullify federal laws. He was an opponent of nullification.

He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1834 to 1837, 1840 to 1841, and 1848 to 1849. In 1850, he was elected to the South Carolina Senate, where he stayed through 1853. He served as a brigadier general of the South Carolina Militia.

In 1854, Adams was elected the 66th Governor of South Carolina, a position he held through 1857. In 1856, he recommended a resumption of the foreign slave trade as a way of eliminating illicit trade. The legislature rejected this proposal.

He signed the articles of secession for South Carolina, The Ordinance of Secession, and served as a member of the commission to the United States government to negotiate the transfer of United States property in South Carolina to the state government.

He married Jane Margaret Scott in April 1832, and they had 11 children. He died in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1861, and his remains were buried in Congaree, South Carolina. Among his many children was Lt. Colonel Warren Adams, of the Confederate States Army, who was in command of Battery Wagner, South Carolina during the American Civil War.

References

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• SCIway Biography of James Hopkins Adams
• NGA Biography of James Hopkins Adams

Political offices
Preceded by John Lawrence Manning	Governor of South Carolina 1854–1856	Succeeded by Robert Francis Withers Allston