Henry William Adamson

Henry William Adamson (1814 – April 1861), was one of the first doctors in early Tattnall County, Georgia. For many years, he and Dr. James Perry were the only two doctors in early Tattnall, with the possible exception of a Dr. Nunez out of Savannah who might have made forays into the county during the early days.

Adamson was born in Scotland in 1814. He supposedly left Glasgow, Scotland, with his wife, at least one daughter, and a son, and arrived at Staten Island, New York in the late 1830s or early 1840s.

He soon moved to New Orleans to go to medical school, where his second daughter was born. His wife and son died shortly thereafter, possibly of an epidemic of some kind. Once graduated from medical school, Adamson took his surviving two daughters to Savannah, Georgia, where he briefly deposited them in the Bethesda Orphanage while he set up his medical practice and a farm in nearby Reidsville, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Adamson returned to Savannah to pick up his girls to bring them home. He was also a minister.

In 1851, Adamson married Anna Brazell (sometimes Annie Braswell) and they had several children together. Adamson died between 13 April - 6 May 1861. His last child, Anna Elizabeth, was born after his death.

Adamson is buried in the Reidsville Cemetery in Reidsville, Georgia. There is a large marker in the cemetery over his grave.