 When Judge Addison Brown resigned his seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York , the members of the Admiralty Bar adopted a resolution in July 1901 asking the president to appoint Adams . He received a recess appointment to that seat from President William McKinley on August 30 , 1901 , and , following McKinley 's assassination on September 14 , was formally nominated to the seat by President Theodore Roosevelt on December 5 . The Senate confirmed Adams on December 17 , 1901 , and he received his commission the same day . 
