Adrain was born to
Robert Adrain and Ann Pollock in a family of seven children. He moved with his parents to
New Brunswick, New Jersey where he attended public schools before he graduated from
Rutgers College, New Brunswick, in 1833. He went on to study law in his brother's office. Adrain was licensed as an attorney in 1836 and as a counselor in 1839. He married Mary Smith Griggs (1817–1886). ==U.S. House of Representatives==