Elmer Bragg Adams

Who was Elmer Bragg Adams?

Elmer Bragg Adams was a United States federal judge.

Born in Pomfret, Vermont, Adams received a B.A. from Yale University in 1865 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1868. He was a teacher for the American Union Commission who organized schools for white children in Georgia from 1865 to 1866, and then engaged in the private practice of law in St. Louis, Missouri from 1866 to 1879. He was a state court judge on the St. Louis Circuit Court from 1879 to 1884, thereafter returning to private practice in St. Louis until 1895.

On May 17, 1895, Adams received a recess appointment from President Grover Cleveland to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri vacated by Henry S. Priest. Formally nominated on December 4, 1895, Adams was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 9, 1895, and received his commission that day. His service to the District Court ended on May 29, 1905, due to appointment to another judicial position.

On May 20, 1905, Adams again received a recess appointment - this time from Theodore Roosevelt - to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Amos Madden Thayer. Formally nominated on December 5, 1905, Adams was confirmed by the Senate, and received his commission, on December 12, 1905. He served on the Eighth Circuit until his death, in St. Louis.