 When Judge Addison Brown resigned his seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the members of the Admiralty Bar adopted a resolution in July 1901 asking the president to appoint Adams. He received a recess appointment to that seat from President William McKinley on August 30, 1901, and, following McKinley's assassination on September 14, was formally nominated to the seat by President Theodore Roosevelt on December 5. The Senate confirmed Adams on December 17, 1901, and he received his commission the same day.
