William Jackson Adams was born January 27, 1860, in Rockingham, North Carolina. Adams was a lawyer until his appointment to a judgeship of the Superior Court in 1908, a position he retained through elections until Gov. Cameron Morrison appointed him to fill a vacancy on the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1921. He remained on the court as an associate justice, retaining his seat through elections, until his death on May 20, 1934. Adams, a Democrat, also had a short political career in the 1890s, representing Moore County in the House (elected 1892) and the Senate (elected 1894).