George B. Adams

Adams was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though under the minimum age, he enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment in the United States Army in 1861, and served for three months before returning to school. He reenlisted in 1863 when Robert E. Lee's forces invaded Pennsylvania, and afterwards entered the Quartermaster's Department of the Army, where he served until 1871. He then worked as a merchant for several years. He read law and became a lawyer in Philadelphia in 1878. Adams was Secretary of the Union League Club of New York in 1894 and 1895. ==Federal judicial service==

When Judge Addison Brown resigned his seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the members of the Admiralty Bar adopted a resolution in July 1901 asking the president to appoint Adams. He received a recess appointment to that seat from President William McKinley on August 30, 1901, and, following McKinley's assassination on September 14, 1901, was formally nominated to the seat by President Theodore Roosevelt on December 5, 1901. The United States Senate confirmed Adams on December 17, 1901, and he received his commission the same day. When appointed, Adams was the only judge in the district. The workload resulting from new federal bankruptcy laws caused his health to break down two years later; though three other judges were appointed to the district, Adams's health never fully recovered, but he served until his death, focusing on the maritime cases that were his specialty. ==Family and death==

In 1904, Adams married the former Helen Jean Balfour. Adams died in Hague, New York on October 9, 1911, after two years' illness. There were no children. She died in 1950 at the age of 101. ==References==