Adam Gillespie Adams was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, July 12, 1820. He started clerking in a wholesale house in 1832, and in 1839 he immigrated to the United States. He worked at a wholesale house in Shelbyville, Tennessee, before moving to the Eakin Bros. firm in Nashville in 1840. He married Susan Porterfield in 1846; Susan died suddenly in 1848, and Adams married Mary J. Strickler in 1851. In 1858, Adams bought Eakin Bros.’ clothing department, named the new venture A. G. Adams & Co., and ran the business successfully for several years. He played a significant role in Nashville business and society, including helping establish the Tennessee Manufacturing Company and serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Centennial Commission. Adams died in Nashville on March 31, 1895.