Born on March 18, 1800, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Henry A. Adams joined the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1814 at the age of thirteen. Adams was promoted to lieutenant in 1825 and commander in 1841. During the U.S.-Mexico War, Adams led a U.S. naval force to aid a separatist revolt in the Yucatán and negotiated with rebel leaders to keep the region neutral throughout the war.
In 1852, Commander Adams was assigned Chief of Staff and second-in-command of Captain Matthew C. Perry’s 1853–1854 expedition to open Japan to United States trade. In 1858, Adams was stationed off Pensacola, Florida to reinforce Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. He was instrumental in defending the entrance of Pensacola Harbor from Confederate forces during the Civil War. Adams was promoted to Commodore in 1862 and placed on the Retired List. He died on May 11, 1869, in Philadelphia, and is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Bibliography
General Register of the United States Navy and Marine Corps arranged in Alphabetical Order. For One Hundred Years, (1782-1882) Thomas Holdup and Stevens Hamersly Washington, D.C. 1882
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915 [data base on-line] Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com
Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 196. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Image Details
Title: Commodore Henry A. Adams, USN
Creator: Frederick Gutekunst, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, photographer
Description: Photograph. Image courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command, United States Navy. Catalogue number NH 56013.
