Amaziah B. James

Amaziah Bailey James, Congressman and Judge

Amaziah Bailey James(July 1, 1812 inStephentown,Rensselaer County, New York– July 6, 1883 inOgdensburg,St. Lawrence County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

His family removed toSweden, New Yorkin 1814. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a printer inBatavia, New York.He removed to Ogdensburg in 1831, and edited there theNorthern Light,a weekly newspaper. He later became co-owner of theTimes and Advertiser,theWhigpaper of St. Lawrence County.

He became acaptainof the Ogdensburg Artillery in 1836, and was later promoted tomajor generalof theNew York State Militia.

He studied law, wasadmitted to the barin 1838, and commenced practice in Ogdensburg.

He was a justice of theNew York Supreme Court(4th District) from 1854 to 1876, and wasex officioa judge of theNew York Court of Appealsin 1861 and 1869. He was a member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war.

James was elected as aRepublicanto the45thand46th United States Congresses,and served from March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1881. While serving his second term in Congress, he was stricken with "paralysis", from which he partially recovered.

He was buried at the City Cemetery in Ogdensburg.

Sources

• United States Congress."Amaziah B. James (id: J000044)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The New York Civil List.compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough. Weed, Parsons and Co. 1858. p. 351.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
• http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/elecbook/thereshallbe/pg92.htmCourt of Appeals judges