Rorer Abraham James (March 1, 1859 – August 6, 1921) was an early-20th-century American lawyer, newspaperman, and politician from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. As a politician, he served in the

Virginia House Virginia House is a manor house on a hillside overlooking the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The house was constructed from the materials of the 16th-century Priory Park, Warwick, Priory Hou ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and briefly as

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Biography

Born near Brosville, Virginia, James was instructed by private tutors. He attended

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

, before graduating from the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

at Lexington in 1882 and from the law department of the

University of Virginia at Charlottesville The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governin ...

in 1887. James was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1887 and commenced legal practice in

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The city is located in the Southside (Virginia), Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River ( ...

. He became owner and editor of the ''Danville Register'' in 1899 and later purchased the ''Danville Bee''.

Political career

James served as member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in the years 1889–1892, and in the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

from 1893 through 1901. Nearly 20 years after leaving the Virginia Senate, James went as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

of 1920. He subsequently served as chairman of the fifth district Democratic committee, then as chairman of the Democratic State committee. In addition to his political appointments, James also acted as head of the

board of trustees. James was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Sixty-sixth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative

Edward W. Saunders Edward Watts Saunders (October 20, 1860 – December 16, 1921) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and judge, who served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. Representative and justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Biography Sa ...

, and reelected to the Sixty-seventh Congress (June 1, 1920 – August 6, 1921).

Death and burial

He died on August 6, 1921, in

, and was interred in Green Hill Cemetery.

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Rorer Abraham 1859 births 1921 deaths Virginia lawyers Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Party Virginia state senators Roanoke College alumni Virginia Military Institute alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Politicians from Danville, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Biography

Political career

Death and burial

See also

Sources

External links