Rowland K. Adams (July 10, 1889 – July 30, 1944) was a justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the state supreme court, highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The cou ...

, the highest court in the state of Maryland, from 1943 to 1944. Born in

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on the southern border of the state. Waynesboro is in the Cumberland Valley between Hagerstown, Maryland, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It is part of Chambersburg, PA Micropolitan Stat ...

, Adams moved with his family to

Boonsboro, Maryland Boonsboro is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States, located at the foot of South Mountain. It nearly borders Frederick County and is proximate to the Antietam National Battlefield. The population was 3,336 at the 2010 census. ...

in 1895, where he attended

Hagerstown High School Washington County Public Schools (''WCPS'') is a U.S. public school system run for the residents of Washington County, Maryland. The central offices of WCPS are collectively known as the Washington County Board of Education, which is located on 10 ...

. Adams graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis in 1911, and from the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland ...

in 1914."Judge Adams Dies Saturday, Aged 55 ", ''

The Morning Herald The ''Morning Herald'' was an early daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. The newspaper was founded in 1780 by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, former editor of ''The Morning Post''. It was initially a liberal paper aligned with the Prince o ...

'' (July 31, 1944), p. 1. Adams served stateside as a captain of infantry in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

,"Maryland Appellate Judge R.K. Adams Dies", ''The Evening Sun'' (July 31, 1944), p. 5. and was later a deputy state's attorney and a member of the Baltimore city supreme bench. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on March 26, 1942, Adams was appointed director of the Third Civilian Defense Region.Judge Rowland K. Adams named director of third region
, ''Victory'', Volume 3, Part 1 (March 31, 1942), p. 30. On January 27, 1943, Governor

Herbert O'Conor Herbert Romulus O'Conor (November 17, 1896March 4, 1960) was an American lawyer serving as the 51st Governor of Maryland from 1939 to 1947. He also served in the United States Senate, representing Maryland from 1947 to 1953. He was a Democrat. ...

appointed Adams to a vacancy on the Maryland Court of Appeals caused by the death of Chief Judge Carroll T. Bond, and subsequent elevation of Judge D. Lindley Sloan to the position of Chief Judge.

References

Judges of the Supreme Court of Maryland 1889 births 1944 deaths People from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American judges United States Army officers Military personnel from Pennsylvania {{Maryland-state-judge-stub