district predecessor successor birth_place party profession office state_house birth_date order term_start spouse article_title term_end name
kent county 1st william d. gordon charles holden john j. carton david e. burns branch county , michigan republican lawyer speaker of the michigan house of representatives michigan 06 august 1866 35th january 4 , 1899 1897 alta edgar j. adams
 december 22 , 1900 1900 edgar j. adams
edgar j. adams

edgar j. adams was a republican member of the michigan house of representatives from 1897 through 1900 .
he served as speaker of the house during the 40th legislature .
adams was born in august 1866 to george and margaret adams .
at age 6 , the family moved to a farm in monroe county , where he attended school , and again , six years later , the family moved to a farm in gratiot county .
adams ' father was a distant relative of john and john quincy adams .
he taught one term of school at age 17 , later becoming employed by hopkins & lyon in mt. pleasant .
adams taught himself in the law and , after moving to grand rapids in 1892 , was admitted to the bar in 1894 .
adams ' re-election in 1898 was not without controversy as he was opposed by governor hazen s. pingree and members of his own political party .
his election as speaker in 1899 was similarly fraught , and described as `` one of the most bitter and determined fights ever witnessed . ''
adams served as a delegate to the convention which drafted the 1908 michigan constitution .
he was a member of the knights of pythias .
