Parts of an article found in The State (only the parts that pertain to him) 29 December 1945: Andrew J. Bethea, Columbia attorney and lieutenant governor of South Carolina two terms and Arthur U. Adams, Columbia business man, were fatally injured in an automobile accident near Elloree in Orangeburg county around 12:30 yesterday morning. R. B. MacCauley and Wade H. Coker, two other Columbians were in the party that had been to Charleston for an Odd Fellows gathering, and were also seriously injured...The bodies of Mr. Bethea and Mr. Adams were brought to the Dunbar Funeral home here early yesterday....The accident happened on the Old State road, about one mile from Elloree. The car in which the Columbians were riding on their return to the capital plunged down an embankment with the rear of the car in a swampy stream of water. Mr. MacCauley, who was driving was pinned under the steering wheel and continued to flash his headlights an hour before anybody could be attracted to the scene to effect rescue. Mr. Adams was killed instantly...As the car went down the embankment, it apparently somersaulted, with the rear end dropping into about three or four feet of water...Mr. MacCauley reported the accident happened when he swerved the car sharply to avoid hitting another car. It went down the embankment and came to a stop in a marshy area...Mr. Adams was born in Columbia 52 years ago, the son of the late Capt. and Mrs. W. W. Adams. His father was at one time captain of the guard at the state penitentiary. He received his education in the Columbia city schools and for the past 25 years has been in the locksmith business in the city, operating the Bike Key shop at 814 Harden street. The family lives at 2612 Heyward street. Prominent in social and civic affairs of the city, Mr. Adams was secretary of the Junior Order, a member of the Oddfellows, and of the National Association of Locksmiths. He was a lifetime member of the Arsenal Hill Presbyterian church. Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Ethel Jouitt Adams; four daughters, Mrs. H. T. Haithcock, Mrs. Talley A. Easler, Mrs. Thomas Curry Farnam, and Miss Mildred Adams; one son, Arthur U. Adams, Jr.; and four grandchildren, all of Columbia; two sisters, Mrs. Walter L. Higbe of Columbia and Mrs. Phifer Fulenwider of Raleigh, N.C. Funeral services for Mr. Adams will be held from the Arsenal Hill church at 1:30 Sunday afternoon. The rites will be conducted by his pastor, the Rev. Walter K. Beaty. Interment will be in Elmwood cemetery.

Per his death certificate found on Ancestry.com: he was a son of William W. Adams, born in Bamberg, S.C., and Elizabeth C. Disher, born in Charleston, S.C. and the husband of Ethel Jowett (note the conflict of spelling with the obit) Adams. He was a locksmith at The Key Shop. He died of a crush wound to the chest in an accident near Elloree, S.C. The informant was Mrs. Thomas C. Farnam of Columbia, S.C.
Conflict: it lists his year of birth as 1894. His WWI Draft Registration Card lists it as 1893.