{{Short description|American politician (1849–1906)}} {{For|other people with the same name|Robert Adams (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert Adams Jr. | image = Robert Adams Jr.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1849|02|26}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1906|06|01|1849|02|26}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | death_cause = Suicide by gunshot | resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | state = Pennsylvania | district = 2nd | term_start = December 19, 1893 | term_end = June 1, 1906 | preceded = Charles O'Neill | succeeded = John Reyburn | title2 = United States Minister to Brazil | term_start2 = July 20, 1889 | term_end2 = March 1, 1890 | president2 = Benjamin Harrison | predecessor2 = Thomas Jarvis | successor2 = Edwin Conger | state_senate3 = Pennsylvania | district3 = 6th | term_start3 = January 2, 1883<ref name=Senate>{{cite book|editor=Sharon Trostle| title = The Pennsylvania Manual| publisher = Pennsylvania Department of General Services | year = 2009| location =Harrisburg, Pennsylvania| url = http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_8486_1294_244739_43/http%3B/pubcontent.state.pa.us/publishedcontent/publish/cop_general_government_operations/dgs/community_content/publications_and_media_services/subcommunities/publications/portlets/pa_manual___home/vol_119___entire_manual.pdf| volume = 119| isbn = 978-0-8182-0334-3}}</ref> | term_end3 = June 12, 1885 | constituency3 = | predecessor3 = A. Wilson Norris | successor3 = Boies Penrose | party = Republican | alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania }} '''Robert Adams Jr.''' (February 26, 1849 – June 1, 1906) was an American diplomat and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 1893 to 1906. He served as the United States Minister to Brazil from 1889 to 1890 and as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 6th district from 1883 to 1885.
==Early life and education== Adams was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Robert and Matilda Maybin Hart Adams.<ref name="BDA1906">{{harvnb|Johnson|1906|p=52}}</ref>
In 1869, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania<ref name="legis.state.pa.us">{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania State Senate - Robert Adams, Jr Biography |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=2474&body=S |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |access-date=13 July 2022}}</ref> and was a member of St. Anthony Hall.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He then attended Doctor Fairies Physical Institute in Philadelphia.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He studied law under George W. Biddle and was admitted to the bar in 1872 but never practiced law.<ref name="legis.state.pa.us"/>
==Career== He was a member of the United States Geological Survey during the explorations of Yellowstone National Park, from 1871 to 1875.<ref name="BDA1906" /> Adams served as a member of the National Guards of Pennsylvania, from 1881 to 1895, serving as judge-advocate and major, also on start duty, and as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, from 1883 to 1887.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He was an aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Beaver of Pennsylvania with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1885.<ref name="BDA1906" />
[[File:Robert Adams Jr. Gravestone.jpg|thumb|upright|Robert Adams Jr. Gravestone in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
On April 10, 1880, Adams participated in a duel against Dr. James William White. Both Adams and White were members of First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry; White wanted permission to wear the distinctive uniform of the Troop while he saw patients. Adams criticized White, and soon the two agreed to duel. They traveled to Maryland for the affair of honor. Both men fired at 15 paces, but neither man struck his mark and the affair ended without injury. At a meeting years later, Adams asked White, "You fired in the air, didn't you?" White said he did. Adams responded, "I didn't. I fired at you."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rowan|first1=Tommy|title=1880: Philly surgeon and soldier duel with pistols over fashion statement|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/1880-Philly-surgeon-and-soldier-duel-with-pistols-over-fashion-statement.html|website=Philly.com|date=December 2016 |access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref>
He was appointed United States Minister to Brazil on April 1, 1889, and served until June 1, 1890, when he resigned.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He was elected to Congress as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles O'Neill on December 19, 1893.
He then served as a Republican representative from the 2nd Pennsylvania district in the congresses 53rd, 54th and 55th, when acting chairman of the committee on foreign affairs and reported the Cuban resolutions and the declaration of war against Spain.<ref name="BDA1906" />
He was re-elected to the 56th, 57th and 58th congresses also from the 2nd Pennsylvania district, serving until his death, and was a member of various committees, while he contributed to periodicals and lectured.<ref name="BDA1906" />
==Death== Adams killed himself in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 1906, by shooting himself after heavy losses in stock speculation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E7DF1E3EE733A25751C0A9609C946797D6CF|title=Congressman a Suicide After Losses at Bridge; Stocks, Too, Had Gone Against Robert Adams Jr. Planned End 2 Weeks Ago – Had Just Paid His Debts to Society Women – "Bridge Whist" Should Be His Epitaph, Says a Colleague. Congressman a Suicide After Losses at Bridge|work=The New York Times|date=June 2, 1906|access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> He is interred at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref>[https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/8315?current_search_qs=%3Fid%3D33059%26PreviousSearch%3DSearch%252cLastName%252c%252c%252c%252c%252cFalse%252cFalse%252cFalse%252c%252cLastName%26CurrentPage%3D2%26SortOrder%3DLastName%26ResultType%3DGrid%26Command%3D4 US House of Representatives]</ref>
==Personal life== Adams was elected a member of the follow societies:<ref name="BDA1906" /> * Historical Society of Pennsylvania * Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution * Society of the War of 1812 * Society of Colonial Wars * Society of the Cincinnati
==See also== *List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{BDA1906 |wstitle= Adams, Robert |volume= 1 |page=52 |short=}} * {{CongBio|A000044|Robert Adams}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | title = United States Minister to Brazil | before = Thomas Jarvis | after = Edwin Conger | years = 1889–1890 }} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=2 | before=Charles O'Neill | years=1893–1906 | after=John Reyburn }} {{s-par|us-pa-sen}} {{succession box|title= Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 6th district|before=A. Wilson Norris|after=Boies Penrose|years=1883–1885}} {{s-end}} {{Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania}} {{US Ambassadors to Brazil}} {{Yellowstone history}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Pennsylvania|Politics}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Robert Jr.}} Category:1849 births Category:1906 suicides Category:19th-century American diplomats Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil Category:American duellists Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Category:American politicians who died by suicide Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Category:Explorers of the United States Category:Pennsylvania lawyers Category:Politicians from Philadelphia Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators Category:Suicides by firearm in Washington, D.C. Category:Wharton School alumni Category:Yellowstone National Park Category:1906 deaths