John Joseph Adams (September 16, 1848 â February 16, 1919) was an American politician and a United States Congressman from New York State, serving two terms from 1883 to 1887.
Adams was born in Douglas Town in the New Brunswick colony of British North America (now part of Miramichi) on September 16, 1848. He emigrated to the United States in 1864, settling in New York City, and worked in a dry-goods firm in New York City until he began studies at Columbia Law School.
Adams graduated with an LLB degree in 1876, and was admitted to the bar later that year. In addition, he was involved in several businesses, including the Adams Mining Company of Leadville, Colorado, which included his brothers Michael Adams (1845âÂÂ1899), a member of the Canadian Parliament, and Samuel Adams (1846âÂÂ1928), a member of the Colorado State Senate.
Elected to the United States House of Representatives from two different districts, Adams represented the 8th District in the forty-eighth United States Congress from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885. He then represented the 7th district in the Fiftieth United States Congress from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1887. Both districts at the time were in Queens County. He did not seek renomination in 1886 and returned to the practice of law.
In 1918, Adams suffered a stroke. He died of heart disease at The Ansonia Hotel in Manhattan on February 16, 1919. Adams was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.