{{Short description|American planter and politician (1750–1830)}} {{other uses}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Joel Adams | image = Joel_Adams.jpg | caption = Portrait of Joel Adams of South Carolina |alt = |order = |office = South Carolina House of Representatives |term_start = 1814 |term_end = 1815 |lieutenant = |predecessor = |successor = | birth_date = {{birth date|1750|2|4|mf=y}} | birth_place = Virginia<br>Province of Virginia | death_date = {{death date and age|1830|7|9|1750|2|4|mf=y}} | death_place = Richland County, South Carolina |resting_place = St. John's Congaree Episcopal Church, Congaree, South Carolina |spouse = Grace Weston |children = James Adams<br>Sarah Adams<br>Frances Adams<br>Joel Adams II<br>William Weston Adams<br>Henry Walker Adams<br>Robert Adams |relations = Joel Adams II (son)<br>James Hopkins Adams (grandson)<br>Robert Adams II (grandson)<br>James Uriah Adams (grandson)<br>Warren Adams (great grandson)<br>Weston Adams (great-great-great grandson)<br>Julian Adams II (great-great-great-great grandson)<br>William Powell (Virginia colonist) (great-great-great grandfather)<br>Nicolas Martiau (5 greats grandfather) |allegiance = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}} (prior to 1776)<br>{{flagicon|United States of America|1777}} (1776-onward) |branch = {{Flagicon|South Carolina|1775}} South Carolina State Militia: 1776-1781<br>{{flagicon|United States of America|1777}} Continental Army |commands = {{flagicon|South Carolina|1775}} South Carolina Line }}
'''Joel Adams''' (February 4, 1750 – July 9, 1830) was an American planter and soldier from Richland County, South Carolina. Adams served as an officer in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution and also served in the Continental Army.<ref name="Politicalgraveyard.com">{{cite news |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/14840.html |title=Joel Adams |work=politicalgraveyard.com |accessdate=November 13, 2013 |archive-date=September 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925185936/http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/14840.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Adams married Grace Weston, daughter of William Weston, and they had seven children.
Adams was instrumental in the successful agricultural development of central part of South Carolina in the 18th century, and was influential in the political structure of the state being centered in Columbia, South Carolina at the time.<ref name="Politicalgraveyard.com"/> He was a strong proponent of education, and of military and political service to state and to country, and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Two of his sons, Joel Adams II (1784–1859) and William Weston Adams (1786–1831), graduated from Yale University and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. His grandson, James Hopkins Adams, graduated from Yale University, and was the 66th governor of South Carolina from 1854 to 1857. His grandson, James Uriah Adams (1812–1871), was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and a graduate of Yale University. Joel's grandson James Pickett Adams (1828–1904) was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and was Major in the Confederate States Army.
His grandson Robert Adams II was a captain in the Confederate Army, and his life was depicted in the film ''The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams''.
Joel's great-grandson Warren Adams (1838–1884) was a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and was in command of the First South Carolina Infantry Regiment at Battery Wagner. Warren graduated from The Citadel in 1859, where he was the Commandant of the Corps of Cadets.<ref name="genealogytrails.com">{{cite news |url=http://genealogytrails.com/scar/military_academy.htm |title=Military College of South Carolina, Warren Adams |work=genealogytrails.com |accessdate=November 13, 2013}}</ref>
His great-grandson Henry Walker Adams (1852-1903), son of James Uriah Adams, served in The South Carolina House of Representatives. The South Carolina author and physician Dr. Edward Clarkson Leverett Adams (1876–1946) was the double great-great-grandson of Joel, and was a member of The South Carolina House of Representatives. E.C.L. Adams was the great-grandson of Joel Adams II and James Adams, two of Joel's sons. He was the author of a number of books including ''Tales of the Congaree''.<ref name="uncpress.org">{{cite news |url=https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807841884/tales-of-the-congaree/ |title=E.C.L. Adams, UNC Press, author |work=uncpress.org |accessdate=July 7, 2019}}</ref> African American author, and Harlem Renaissance leader, Langston Hughes visited E.C.L. Adams at his home in South Carolina and said of Adams that he "was exactly my idea of what a ''true'' Southern gentleman should be."<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozgiGh5QAVEC&q=E.C.L.+Adams+langston+hughes&pg=PA226 |title=Langston Hughes visits E.C.L. Adams, ''The Life of Langston Hughes'' |work=books.google.com |isbn=9780199760862 |accessdate=July 7, 2019|last1=Rampersad |first1=Arnold |date=26 November 2001 }}</ref>
His descendant Weston Adams served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and was also a United States Ambassador.
Joel Adams is buried at St. John's Congaree Episcopal Church in Congaree, South Carolina.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/14840.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925185936/http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/14840.html |date=2018-09-25 }} * {{find a Grave|75518306}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Joel}} Category:Continental Army soldiers Category:People from Richland County, South Carolina Category:1750 births Category:1830 deaths Category:People from colonial South Carolina Category:South Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution Category:18th-century owners of plantations in the United States Category:18th-century owners of plantations in the Thirteen Colonies Category:United States senators who owned slaves Category:19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly Category:Owners of plantations in South Carolina