Andrew Adgate

ADGATE, Andrew. b. Norwich, Connecticut, 22 March 1762; d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 30 September 1793.  Adgate, a pupil of Andrew Law*, prominent singing teacher, conductor, and concert organizer,  was the son of Daniel Adgate (1734-1764) and Phebe Waterman Adgate (1738-1766). Adgate, who fell victim to an illness that swept through Philadelphia, was described as ‘one of the most curious people in all the city.  He earned a living as a card maker, but he was Philadelphia’s premier music master…’  (Powell, p. 175). Adgate founded the Institution for the Encouragement of Church Music in 1784, renamed the Uranian Society in 1785, which became the Uranian Academy of Philadelphia in 1787,...