Adams was born on 8 February 1868 in Jersey City, New Jersey, to a conservative family. Her father died when she was 15 months old. Before Adams began working as an astrologer full time, she became engaged to a Mr. Lord, who was believed to be her employer. Although she said that she was initially in love with him, she lost any feelings that she had for him and subsequently broke the engagement. In 19th century Boston, breaking an engagement was seen as a grave scandal. She was the 'companion' of Emma Viola Sheridan Fry (educator, journalist, playwright, suffragist) in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Thousands of subscribers to her astrological newsletter followed her advice to invest in stocks on the eve of the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Evangeline Adams died in 1932.

Adams was arrested twice in New York for fortune telling, in 1908 and May 1914. Although practicing astrology was not legalized at that time, Adams was later acquitted in 1914 after she gave the judge an astrology reading describing the character of his son from a birthdate.