William Adams

William Adams (January 25, 1807 – August 31, 1880) was a noted American clergyman and academic. Early life He was born in Colchester, Connecticut on January 25, 1807. He was one of five sons and six daughters born to John Adams (1772–1863) and Elizabeth (née Ripley) Adams (1776–1829). His father was a 1795 graduate of Yale who was an American educator noted for organizing several hundred Sunday schools. His father was the eldest of ten children born to Captain John Adams, a farmer from Canterbury and an officer during the American Revolution and Mary (née Parker) Adams of Needham, Massachusetts. Her maternal grandparents were Gamaliel Ripley and Judith (née Perkins) Riply. His mother was a great-great-granddaughter of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony who was a passenger on the Mayflower. He prepared for College at Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Yale College in 1827. He studied for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary, under Professor Moses Stuart, graduating in 1830. The University of the city of New York gave him the degree of D.D. in 1842, and Princeton College that of LL.D. in 1869.