William Adams, D. D., an American clergyman, born in Colchester, Conn., Jan. 25, 1807. He received his early education from his father (see Adams, John, LL. D.), when principal of Phillips academy, Andover, Mass., and graduated at Yale college in 1827. He studied theology at Andover, and in February, 1831, was ordained as a Congregational minister and pastor at Brighton, Mass. In 1834 he was called to the charge of the Central Presbyterian church, New York city. He has since that time been identified with the Presbyterian church, and has been (1872) for 38 years the pastor of the same congregation, which since 1853 has been known as the " Madison Square Presbyterian Church." He early attained reputation as a pulpit orator, and has been very prominent in the national benevolent societies. He was moderator of the New School general assembly of 1852, and was active in promoting the reunion between the Old and New School churches in 1870 - '71. Besides occasional sermons, addresses, orations, and articles in the reviews, he has published " The Three Gardens: Eden, Gethsemane, and Paradise" (1859); an edition of Isaac Taylor's "Spirit of Hebrew Poetry," with a biographical introduction (1861); "Thanksgiving: Memories of the Day, and Helps to the Habit" (1865); and " Conversations of Jesus Christ with Representative Men" (1868). In 1871 Dr. Adams was elected professor of sacred rhetoric and pastoral theology in the Union theological seminary, New York, but declined the appointment.