Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/432

400 co-operation with the department of justice, Mr. James instituted a thorough investigation into the abuses and frauds in his department, the result of which was the famous star-route trials. In his an- nual report to Congress he announced that, with these reforms and with retrenchments in other directions which he indicated, a reduction of letter postage from three to two cents would be possible, and it followed soon afterward. While postmaster- general, Mr. James negotiated a money-order con- vention with all the Australian colonies, and with the island of Jamaica. Retiring from the post- office department, 4 Jan., 1882, he became presi- dent of the Lincoln national bank, and the Lincoln safe-deposit company of New York. The degree of A. M. was given him in 1863 by Hamilton college, and that of LL. D. by Madison university in 1883 and by St. John's college in 1884.

JAMES, Thomas Potts, botanist, b. in Rad- nor, Pa., 1 Sept., 1803 ; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 22 Feb., 1882. He was a wholesale druggist in Phila- delphia for forty years, devoting his leisure to botany, for which he showed a fondness from early youth'. While in Philadelphia he made himself familiar with the phaenogamous vegetation of that vicinity, and subsequently became a proficient and an accepted authority on bryology, or the study of mosses. He shared the reputation of Coe F. Austin, Leo Lesquereux, and William S. Sullivant as authorities on that branch of botany in the United States. In 1867 he settled in Cambridge, Mass., where the advantages of association with Asa Gray and the use of the Harvard collections facilitated his investigations. He was a member of scientific societies, and one of the founders and long the treasurer of the American pomological society. His scientific papers were contributed to the " Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences " and to the " Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences." The article on " Musci " in the volume on " Botany " of the reports of Clarence King's " Exploration of the 40th Parallel " is by him, and to other govern- ment reports he contributed similar articles. He was joint author with Leo Lesquereux of the "Manual of American Mosses" (Boston, 1884).

JAMESON, Charles Davis, soldier, b. in Gor- ham, Me., 24 Feb., 1827; d. in Oldtown, Me., 6 Nov., 1862. In his youth his parents removed with him to Oldtown, where, after receiving a lim- ited education, he embarked in the lumber-trade, and became one of the largest manufacturers and shippers of lumber on the Penobscot. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Charleston National Demo- cratic convention, and at the beginning of the civil war he was placed in command of the 2d Maine regiment, the first that left that state for the seat of war. He led his regiment at Bull Run, and with his command protected the rear of the army in its retreat to Centreville. For his services on this occasion he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 3 Sept., 1861. He participated in the seven days' fight about Richmond, but after the battle of Fair Oaks was attacked with camp fever, and returned home to die. In 1861-'2 he was the Democratic caAdidate for governor of Maine.

JAMESON, David, soldier, b. in 1752; d. in Culpeper county, Va., 2 Oct., 1839. He fought at the battle of Great Bridge, 9 Dec, 1775, and served in the southern states in Stevens's brigade in 1780 and 1781. In 1790-'l he was a delegate to the Vir- ginia legislature, and was afterward a magistrate and high-sheriff of Culpeper county. — His brother, John, held a command till the end of the war, and was afterward clerk of Culpeper county.

JAMESON, John Alexander, jurist, b. in Irasburg, Vt., 25 Jan., 1824. He was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1846, and was tutor there in 1850-'3. He then studied law, be- gan practice in Freeport, 111., in 1853. and settled in Chicago in April. 1856. In November, 1865, he became judge of the superior court of that city (now the superior court of Cook county), and con- tinued on the bench till November, 1883. He was professor of constitutional law, equity, and juris- prudence in the law-school of the University of Chicago from 1867 till 1868, when he resigned, and was for many years assistant editor of the " Ameri- can Law Register," published in Philadelphia. He is the author of " The Constitutional Convention, its History, Powers, and Modes of Proceeding" (New York, 1867 ; 4th ed., 1887). He had prepared materials for a " Treatise on the Law of Judicial Sales," which were destroyed in the Chicago fire.

JAMESON, Patrick Henry, physician, b. in Monroe, Jefferson co., Ind., 18 April, 1824. He was graduated at Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia, in 1849, and established himself in practice in In- dianapolis. He was commissioner of the Indiana hospital for the insane from 1861 till 1866, and also surgeon in charge of state and National troops in quarters at the several camps, and in hospital at the soldiers' home, Indianapolis. From January, 1863, till March, 1866, he was acting assistant, sur- geon in the U. S. army, and from 1861 till 1869 physician to the Indiana institution for the deaf and dumb. He has contributed occasionally to medical journals, and has written eighteen con- secutive annual reports of the Indiana hospital for the insane.

JAMESON, William, naval officer, b. in Vir- ginia in 1791 ; d. in Alexandria, Va., 7 Oct., 1873. He was appointed a midshipman from the District of Columbia in 1811. During the war of 1812-'14 he was in several engagements, and received his commission as lieutenant in 1817, commander in 1837, and as captain in 1844. He adhered to the cause of the Union at the beginning of the civil war, and was commissioned commodore, 16 July, 1862. He was invalided, and remained in Alexan- dria during the war, and was subsequently placed on the retired list.

JANES, Edmund Storer, M. E. bishop, b. in Sheffield, Berkshire co., Mass., 27 April, 1807 ; d. in New York city, 18 Sept., 1876. His father was a mechanic, and the son united with the Meth- odist church at thirteen years of age. By dili- gent improvement of scanty opportunities he fitted himself to teach a country school, and in the pursuit of that call- ing he removed to New Jersey, where he found his way into the Meth- odist ministry. In 1830 he was admitted to the Philadelphia confer- ence, which then em- braced the whole state of New Jersey. In 1835 he was appointed financial agent for Dickinson college, and in 1840 he was chosen financial secretary of the American Bible society, which office he filled for four years, travelling in the interests of that society through all parts of the country. In 1844 he was elected and ordained bishop by the general conference sitting in