John James married Sarah Ann Cowan in 1835, with whom he had four children, including William B. James. William Bradley James was born on October 22, 1839 in Brazoria County, Texas. In 1861 he enrolled in Captain George Hampton's company of Texas Mounted Volunteers which later came to be Company C, Fourth Regiment Texas Cavalry, of the Confederate Army. James served the entire war in this company and was a part of the New Mexico Campaign, the Battles of Val Verde and Glorietta Pass, the Battle of Galveston in 1863 and in 1864 the Red River Campaign, including the Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. In 1865, James married Elvira Jessie Patterson In Victoria, Texas, with whom he had five children. After the death of his first wife, James married Sophronia Overstreet in Austin; the couple had nine children. They lived in Houston, where in 1898 Sophronia passed away leaving James with eight children. James then joined the Dick Dowling Camp of the United Confederate Veterans in 1904 and retained the rank of Second Lieutenant Commander until his death in 1911. William B. James' headstone is located in Magnolia Cemetery, in Houston, Texas, where a historical marker was dedicated in 2005. The ceremony was attended by many of his descendants. J. P. James, the donor of the papers, is the son of William B. James
The James Family Papers are comprised of two legal documents, an 1835 marriage bond and an 1863 power of attorney written in the State of Texas. The marriage bond was drawn up in the state of Coahuila and Texas, Department of Brazos and Jurisdiction of Columbia between John James and Sarah Ann Cowan. The document is signed by John James, Phineas Smith for Miss Cowan, and witnessed by Peter McHughes, Edmund Andrews, J. B. Cowan, and Uzziel Wakefield. The second document, dated in 1863, is a power of attorney, written in the County of Victoria, State of Texas. Power of attorney is granted to Robert H. Hunter by William B. James. The document was to be effective while Mr. James served in the Confederate Army.
Arrangement is chronological.
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J. P. James, Nov. 1949.
Processed by Lisa M. Lomas, 2012.
[Identification of Item], James Family Papers, MC119, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.