James was a drummer, serving off and on from 1777 to 1780, according to his military records.

He was born in Killingworth, Conn., and enlisted from there. He received a Bounty Land Warrant for property in Ontario County, N.Y.

After the war, he lived for a short time in Somerset and Wilmington, Vt., and then moved to Bristol, N.Y., after 1800, where he became a deacon at the church.

He died at South Bristol and was buried there at the Burby Hollow Cemetery.