Colonel John Esslemont Adams , born 25 May 1865 at Hamilton, was the elder son of John Adams, a Public School Teacher, and Margaret Adams, of Gilbertfield,
High Patrick Street, Hamilton .
His siblings were Margaret, Ann and George.
Esselmont, as he was known, went up to the University of Glasgow at a young age.
He was just fourteen when he first matriculated in 1879 to study Latin and Greek. He studied for thirteen years, mainly Latin and Greek, although in the session 1882-83 he took classes in Natural Philosophy, Mathematics and English, and in 1883-84 he took Mathematics and Natural Philosophy again before returning to Classics and finally graduating MA in 1888. He was very successful in his studies and won a
Coulter Prize, of £2.10s, for the best Latin essay on 'The Cases Which Led to the
Decline of Sparta in the Fourth Century BC'. He then graduated in 1892 with a BD having studied at the Free Church Training College. His first charge was as minister for Dreghorn and Perceton in Ayrshire. In 1902 he married 28 year old Marion
Gallacher from Dreghorn. Their marriage took place in the United Free Church in
Newhaven, Edinburgh on 13 August 1902. When war broke out he was Minister of the West United Free Church in Aberdeen and he went out to the Western Front to serve with the Army Chaplains Department.

The 1914 Christmas Truce
Christmas Day 1914 was one of the strangest and most moving moments in the history of the Great War. The guns had fallen silent on Christmas Eve, and the sound of men singing carols had drifted across the lines. The following morning some German soldiers left their trenches, unarmed and calling on their British counterparts not to shoot. What followed will never be forgotten. Men laid down their arms and worked side by side to bury the dead. They worshipped together and later played football, exchanged gifts and drank to a peaceful Christmas. Scots were there in numbers - the 6th Gordons and 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards. One Scot, a
Glasgow graduate played a most important part that day.
As chaplain to the Gordon Highlanders, Esselmont had just completed a burial service for one of the men on Christmas Day 1914 when he saw men beginning to emerge from the trenches. While Colonel McLean attempted to stop them, it became clear that something quite unique was happening, and Esselmont went over to speak to the German officers, in the hopes of securing a truce to bury the dead lying on noman's land. It was the beginning of an extraordinary, if brief peace. After the dead were buried, Esselmont Adams and a German divinity student officiated at a service, at which the 23rd Psalm was read in English and German. At the end of the service he shook hands with the German commander. The truce lasted until the 3rd of
January 1915 when the guns were heard again.
Colonel John Esslemont Adams had a distinguished war service. His gallantry and dedication were recognised in his rank and decorations. Colonel Adams was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He was twice Mentioned in Despatches (MID).

Though he had gladly seized the opportunity for truce that Christmas Day, he was sure of his cause in war. In 1917 he edited a book concerned with German atrocities, entitled Their Crimes . When the war ended he returned to his Ministry in Aberdeen.
He was a Doctor of Divinity of Aberdeen University and died on 22nd April 1935.
The part played by John Esslemont Adams on that momentous Christmas Day 1914 has been represented in films and documentaries including 2005 French film Joyeux
Noel and a BBC Days that shook the World broadcast entitled 'The Christmas
Truce'.
On 27 April 1935, the Hamilton Advertiser reported the death of Reverend Dr J E
Adams. It is possible that the reporter embellished the story a little.
HAMILTON MAN WHO ARRANGED UNOFFICIAL "ARMISTICE" IN 1914.
The death occurred at 12 Garden Place. Aberdeen, on Monday. of the Reverend Dr
J Esslemont Adams, DSO, MC, a son of the late John Adam, Rector of St John's
Grammar School, Hamilton. He was about 70 years of age.
Dr Adams had been minister of the West Church of St Andrew, Aberdeen, formerly the West United Free Church, since 1901.
He received his early education at St John's School under his father before proceeding to Glasgow University and the New College, Edinburgh, and some of his schoolfellows are still in the town. He was minister at Perceton and Dreghorn for seven years before going to Aberdeen.
He received the degree of DD from the University of Aberdeen in March 1928.
In his early days he was known as a fine vocalist, with a keen interest in music, an interest which he shared with other members of the family. and which he retained until the end
A MOVING INCIDENT
Dr Adams was associated with one of the most moving incidents of the Great War.
On Christmas morning 1914, as chaplain to the Gordon Highlanders and Scots
Guards, he went into the trenches to give seasonal greetings to the Troops.Then, to the officer in command of the 6th Gordons, he said, "I'm off, sir, to speak to the
Germans". And with that he left for the enemy lines. He stood up on the parapet of the trench, holding up his hands. and then began to walk across "No Sfan's Land". A
German soldier came out to him him, and together they went to the German commander. who agreed to a truce. The dead between the lines were buried, and Dr
Adams conducted a short religious service in which both British and German troops joined. The truce lasted till 3 January.
Dr Adam was told after the incident that he would get either a Court-martial, or decoration. He got the Military Cross presented personally by the King, and subsequently also the DSO decoration.

Dr Adams is survived by Mrs Adams and a daughter. His brother, Mr W G S Adams, is Warden of All Souls College, Oxford. and a sister, Miss Adams, resides in
"Gilbertfield", Hamilton.
THE FUNERAL
A large convocation filled West Church of St Andrew, Aberdeen, on Thursday, for the funeral service.
The Presbytery of Aberdeen attended the service, which was conducted by the
Reverend Dr F J Rae and the Reverend Dr A Heatherwick, Moderator of the
Presbytery.
Mourners included Lord Provost Henry Alexander, Bishop Deane, and Mr G A
Morrison, MP, for the Scottish Universities, the chief mourners being Miss May
Adams, daughter, and Dr George Adams, Oxford.
Dr Adams, Mr G Bennett Mitchell, Bailie Macdiarmid, Session Clerk, Mr D.
Mackintosh, Dr Norman Davidson, Mr Steel Leith and Mr George Esslemont,
Forgue, Aberdeenshire, acted as pall-bearers.