James M. Birney (June 17, 1817 – May 8, 1888) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

Birney was educated at Centre College in Danville and in 1836 graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

He resigned as Lieutenant Governor April 3, 1861, to accept the judicial appointment and served in that position for four years.

[3] In 1872, Governor Henry P. Baldwin nominated Birney to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant as Centennial Commissioner for Michigan to celebrate the Hundredth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1876.

[5] While in New Haven studying at Yale College, Birney married Amanda Moulton on June 1, 1841.

The eldest, James G. Birney, distinguished himself as captain in the 7th Regiment of Michigan Volunteers and died while an officer of the U.S. regular army.