History and images have been compiled from various sources including, among others, the 1987 National Register of Historic Places, Stack & Beasley's 1902 Sketches of Monroe and Union County, Union County Public Library (Patricia Poland, Genealogy & Local History Librarian), the Heritage Room Photo Collection, North Carolina Map Collection, Rootsweb - An Ancestry.com Community and Ancestry.com family histories.

Last Civil War Veteran Not to Leave Union County

1937 Confederate Memorial Day - Monroe Courthouse
Reuben Henry James
was born Aug 10, 1846 and died Mar 23, 1940, just short of his 94th birthday. He married Malinda Evelyn Austin Fowler (1841-1936) Dec 30, 1866.
(Malinda's husband Moses Fowler was killed in 1864 during the Civil War)

Old James family home - R.F.D 2 (New Salem), Marshville, NC
Burial: Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery, New Salem Township, Union County, NC

Named for his grandfather Reuben Henry James (1784-1862), R.H., was the son of James Lemuel James (1821-1858) and Anna Marie Poole of Anson County.    

James enlisted as a private in Union County April 15, 1864 at age 18 - Company I, North Carolina 53rd Infantry Regiment. Captured at Orange Court House, Va., abt. June 11, 1864 and confined at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, DC. Transferred to Elmira, NY, July 23, 1864. Transferred to Point Lookout, Md., Oct. 11, 1864 and paroled Oct. 29, 1864. Received at Venus Point, Savannah River, Ga., Oct. 29, 1864 for exchange and returned to duty. Deserted to enemy on unspecified date. Released at Washington, DC abt. Apr. 4, 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance. (Ancestry.com family tree)

Rev. James was baptized in Rocky River in 1868 and became a licensed minister in 1870. He then lived in New Salem, then Monroe (1900-1910 census), Big Lick (Stanley County), Goose Creek and back to Monroe where he died.

In October of 1895 the Union County Baptist District Association held their annual meeting. One item of concern was the lask of educational opportunities for the youth in the area. The idea had been brought up before as far back as 1887 but no action had been taken. This time the ministers of the association decided it was time for a school. This was the beginning of Wingate College.  R.H. James was one of those ministers instrumental in establishing this school. (Wingate College Story by Hubert Inman Hester) 

Children:
George Washington James (1867-1955) -88
Jonathan Sylvester James (1869-1953) -84
Martelia Elizabeth James Pigg (1872-1965) -93
Cornelia James Smith (1876-1965) -89
Isadora Evelyn James Brooks (1878-1967) -89
Reuben Fulton James (1881-1981) -100
Martin LaFayette James (1884-1950) -66

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