When John Adamson was born about 1817, in Lost Creek, Union, Tennessee, United States, his father, Abraham Adamson, was 27 and his mother, Eleanor Lewis, was 25. He married Priscilla Adamson in 1840, in Harrison Township, Delaware, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. He lived in Harrison Township, Delaware, Indiana, United States in 1860 and Indiana, United States in 1870. He died on 21 March 1875, in Harrison, Fayette Township, Vigo, Indiana, United States, at the age of 58, and was buried in Muncie, Center Township, Delaware, Indiana, United States.