About Edmund Adams

Ed Adams was born December 4, 1933 in Madison County, GA, to the late Clarence and Ola Stephens Adams. His attorney father and school teacher mother valued education and civic engagement, and Ed followed all eight of his older siblings to college. He attended Emory-at-Oxford and received his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1956. He moved to Winston-Salem, NC, and was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1960. From 1961 to 1969, he practiced in Winston-Salem where he was an Assistant Solicitor for Forsyth County.
In 1970, Ed was offered an opportunity to move to Sparta to succeed long-time county attorney Floyd Crouse. At the time, Crouse was representing Ashe, Alleghany and Grayson Counties in opposition to the Blue Ridge Project — twin hydroelectric dams that would have inundated more than 50,000 acres of the best farmland along the New River. Ed was devoted to the “dam project,” understanding its irrevocable impact on the area’s economy, culture and landscape. He represented the three counties before the Federal Power Commission, testified before the Interior Committee of both the U.S. House and Senate, and appeared with Attorney General Edmisten before the District of Columbia Circuit.

He and his allies prevailed and in 1976, legislation stopping the project was signed into law by President Ford. The certificate commemorating attendance at the Rose Garden Signing Ceremony hangs proudly in his law office. He was honored by the National Committee for the New River (of which he was a founding member with stints as Director and President) with the first Wallace and Peggy Carroll Lifetime Achievement Award for his work.

Punctuating this exceptional career, in 2013 he received the Governor’s Volunteer Service Medallion Award for his many years of service to NC and its people. In 2014 he was inducted into the North Carolina Bar Association General Practice Hall of Fame.

His wife, Marion Allison Adams, was his constant companion throughout their 36-year marriage. She loved joining him and supporting their many volunteer activities.