His father, a butcher, was evidently a respected local citizen who held the office of Recorder for Chester County as of 1855.

He was responsible for managing the Union Army's supplies, equipment, and transport in the region and evidently did not see combat.

A 1875 account attributed his subsequent promotions to the "secrecy and celerity with which he collected and equipped the transports, by which means the expedition was sent to sea.

[1] From 1882 to 1902, he served as chancellor of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

The couple had one daughter, Ada Sibilla James (born 1862), and two sons, both of whom died in infancy.