Charlotte Adelaide Fales was born around 1832 in Sherborn, Massachusetts, to John Fales and Charlotte Leland. Her father was a farm laborer. Her mother died around 1850. She grew up and attended school in Sherborn, and she married Alden Adams there on March 16, 1863. They had at least six children: John, born around 1864; Charlotte, born around 1865; Charles, born around 1867; George, born around 1869; Oliver, born around 1871; and Harriet, born around 1875. They lived in Sherborn, and her husband worked as a farmer. She died of breast cancer in Sherborn on February 9, 1908.