US Congressman. He was elected as a Democrat to represent Georgia's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1897 to 1917. His most significant piece of legislation was the Adamson Act, which proposed an 8 hour workday and overtime pay for railway employees. President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law on September 3, 1916. Although it was an emergency bill intended to head off a crippling railroad strike, the legal precedent it set eventually became standard for all American workers and helped improve their quality of life. Adamson was born in Bowdon, Georgia, and graduated from Bowdon College in 1874. Settling in Carrollton, Georgia in 1876, he was admitted to the bar and maintained a law practice there for over 50 years. He was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention but was essentially an obscure small town lawyer and jurist until 1896, when he was elected to the Fifty-fifth and ten succeeding Congresses. During his last four terms he was chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. In 1917 Adamson resigned from Congress to accept an appointment to the Board of United States General Appraisers (now the United States Customs Court), a post he held until 1928. He then returned to his legal practice in Carrollton and died while on a business trip to New York City.
US Congressman. He was elected as a Democrat to represent Georgia's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1897 to 1917. His most significant piece of legislation was the Adamson Act, which proposed an 8 hour workday and overtime pay for railway employees. President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law on September 3, 1916. Although it was an emergency bill intended to head off a crippling railroad strike, the legal precedent it set eventually became standard for all American workers and helped improve their quality of life. Adamson was born in Bowdon, Georgia, and graduated from Bowdon College in 1874. Settling in Carrollton, Georgia in 1876, he was admitted to the bar and maintained a law practice there for over 50 years. He was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention but was essentially an obscure small town lawyer and jurist until 1896, when he was elected to the Fifty-fifth and ten succeeding Congresses. During his last four terms he was chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. In 1917 Adamson resigned from Congress to accept an appointment to the Board of United States General Appraisers (now the United States Customs Court), a post he held until 1928. He then returned to his legal practice in Carrollton and died while on a business trip to New York City.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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