Brady Gallery, Quarter Plate Daguerreotype Believed to be 2nd Lt. David Adams, South Carolina Palmetto Regiment, KIA Mexican War 

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By Cowan's Auctions

Jun 12, 2015 - Jun 13, 2015

Set Reminder 2015-06-12 10:00:00 2015-06-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American History Live Salesroom Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-history-live-salesroom-auction-663
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• Lot Description
  Quarter plate daguerreotype of a gentleman identified by Adams Family descendants as David Adams (1824-1847) of Aiken County, SC, wearing a civilian, double-breasted frock coat and what appears to be a ca 1839 military cap covered with oil cloth. Housed in full case with velvet mat stamped Brady's Gallery/ 205-207/ Broadway New York. Mathew Brady operated a studio at this address from 1844-1858, and this portrait was likely taken ca 1845-1846. The Adams Family believes that David Adams was a cousin to Warren Adams' father, J.H. Adams, but the relationship has not been confirmed.
  
  The year 1846 brought war to the United States and Mexico. South Carolina provided one regiment of infantry to the conflict. Known as the Palmetto Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, the men were under the command of Colonel Pierce Mason Butler, formerly a US Army officer and State Governor. The unit was accepted into federal service in December 1846 and disbanded at the close of the war in June and July 1848.
  
  Company D, the “Old Ninety-Six Boys," was under the command of Captain Preston S. Brooks, with Joseph Abney, Lafayette B. Weaver, and David Adams acting as Lieutenants. They served Major General Winfield Scott in his campaign against Mexico City. On August 20th, 1847, during the assault of Churubusco just outside Mexico City, Colonel Butler and Lieutenant Adams were killed and Lieutenant Abney was severely wounded. The Palmetto Regiment suffered some of the most severe losses in the battle and Campaign. 
  The Adams Family of South Carolina:
  
  A collection of photographs and manuscripts concerning one of South Carolina’s oldest and most prominent families. Lots 31-37, 103
  
  The Adams family came to the area near present day Columbia, SC, in the mid-18th century, acquired major land holdings, and became prosperous plantation owners. They were strongly involved in political and military affairs of their state, region, and country, playing major roles in state government as well as the Mexican American and Civil Wars.
  
  James Adams, son of Henry Coker Adams, emigrated from England to Virginia in the early seventeenth century seeking a new life in colonial America. There, he married Agnes Walker and fathered two children before Agnes’ death in 1755. One of the children died early, the other, Joel, survived into adulthood.
  
  Joel Adams was born February 4, 1750, in Culpepper, VA. He was the first of the family to settle in lower Richland County, SC, at Wavering Place in 1768. He married Grace Weston in 1773 and together they bore seven children. Before the American Revolution, Joel began acquiring land along the Congaree River in lower Richland County, accumulating 25,000 acres of plantations in the area. In the Revolutionary War, he was a leader of South Carolina militia forces and served in the Continental Army. He strongly believed in education, and political and military service to one’s state and country. Two of his children were educated at Yale. He died July 8, 1830, in Richland, SC, where he is buried.
  
  One of Joel’s sons, Henry Walker Adams, had the unfortunate situation of losing his wife (Mary Goodwyn) and then dying himself at the early age of 25, leaving behind a son, James Hopkins Adams. Joel raised his grandson until his own death.
  
  James Hopkins Adams was born March 15, 1812, in the Richland District in South Carolina, and died there July 13, 1861. He graduated from Yale in 1831, married Jane Margaret Scott in April 1832, and they had eleven children. He was Brigadier General of Cavalry for the South Carolina Militia and served several terms as a State Representative and State Senator. In 1854, he was elected to be the 66th Governor of South Carolina, serving through 1856. As a member of the “Convention of the People” in 1860-1861, he was a signatory to the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. Subsequently, Adams served as a Commissioner of South Carolina to the US government to negotiate the transfer of United States property in South Carolina to the state government. He died at Live Oak, his country residence, and is buried in St. John's Episcopal Churchyard in Congaree, SC.
  
  This collection principally concerns one of J. H. Adams children, Warren Adams, (1838–1884) who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the CSA. He was in command of the First South Carolina Infantry Regiment at Battery Wagner, Charleston, SC (Lots 32-35, 37).
  
  Images and documents related to extended family members, such as 2nd Lieutenant David Adams, KIA in the Mexican American War (Lot 31), and Captain Robert Adams, Charleston Light Dragoons (Lot  36) are also included in the collection, as well as an archive of material regarding the Sinkler & Darby Families, relatives through marriage (Lot 103).
  
  Provenance:Descended in the Family of Confederate Lt. Colonel Warren Adams

  Condition

  Solarization along perimeter of plate, some scattered spotting on plate; housed in full case completely separated along hinge.
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