James

He served two terms in the legislature (1825-
28); in 1825 he was made a general of militia;
in 1827 was appointed postmaster of James'
Mills, a place he retained till his death, and in
the Black Hawk War commanded a spy battal-
ion. He died at Monroe City. In the year before
his death he published in book form the story of
his frontier experiences (Three Years among
the Indians and Mexicans, Waterloo, 111., 1846),
edited, probably written, by a local teacher-law-
yer, Nathaniel Niles. The book was, however,
immediately suppressed (apparently because of a
quarrel between Niles and James) and most of
the copies were destroyed. A copy found about
1909 was reprinted by the Missouri Historical
Society in 1916, with annotations and additions
by Judge Walter B. Douglas.

James was six feet tall and of powerful frame.
His portrait in the Douglas volume reveals (if
there is anything in physiognomy) intelligence,
will, and candor, and refutes an unfriendly char-
acterization of him as "an ordinary looking
man ... of the pioneer or coon-hunter type."
His book, though sometimes faulty as to both
dates and facts, is perhaps the most fascinating
first-hand record of early experiences on the
Far Western frontier and is besides invaluable
for its information regarding episodes and per-
sons elsewhere slighted or ignored.

[Thos. James, Three Years Among the Indians and
Mexicans (1916), by W. B. Douglas; manuscript notes
supplied by Jessie P. Weber, librarian 111. State Hist.
Lib.; Elliot Coues, ed., The Jour, of Jacob Fowler
0898).] W.J.G.

JAMES, THOMAS CHALKLEY (Aug. 31,
1766-July 5, 1835), physician, teacher, of Welsh
stock, was born in Philadelphia, the youngest
son of Abel and Rebecca (Chalkley) James, and
a grandson of the Quaker preacher Thomas
Chalkley [#.#.]. He was educated in a Quaker
school under Robert Proud, the historian. His
early religious education had a persistent influ-
ence on his character. He studied the Bible con-
tinually, not only in English, but in the original
Hebrew and Greek. From the doctrine of origi-
nal sin and human depravity he developed a
sense of inferiority which made him shy and
self-critical. He studied medicine at the Univer-
sity of the State of Pennsylvania under Dr.
Adam Kuhn, receiving his bachelor's diploma in
1787, and became doctor of medicine in 1811.
After a voyage, 1788-90, as ship's surgeon, to the
Cape of Good Hope and Canton, he went to Lon-
don and became a pupil of Dr. John Hunter,
through the friendship of a fellow countryman,
Dr. Philip Syng Physick [#.#.]. As Physick
was the connecting link in medicine between
English training and American practice so was

James
James in obstetrics. In London, at the Story
Street Lying In Hospital, he spent a winter un-
der Doctors Osborne and John Clark, two fa-
mous obstetricians, continued his studies in Ed-
inburgh, but took no degree there, and in 1793
returned to Philadelphia, shortly before the
city's appalling epidemic of yellow fever.
His marriage in 1802 to Hannah Morris was
fortunate. His wife gave him social position,
and her decided character formed a useful com-
plement to his own shyness and lack of self-
confidence. In November 1802, in connection
with Dr. Church, he began the first regular
course of lectures on obstetrics. In 1810, these
lectures were given at the University of Penn-
sylvania, the first time that such a course was
offered. James was appointed physician to the
Pennsylvania Hospital in 1807, but in 1810, at
his own request, he was transferred to the post
of obstetrician, the duties of which position he
discharged punctiliously until 1832. Two of his
papers, read before the Philadelphia College of
Surgeons, had especial significance. One was a
description (1810) of the first successful case
of premature labor artificially induced at the end
of the seventh month on account of contracted
pelvis. The other (1827) dealt with extra-uter-
ine pregnancy, proving that so-called abdominal
pregnancy is a myth and that when the fetus is
found in the peritoneal cavity, it has reached
that position from the ruptured tube or uterus
in which it was originally conceived. James was
also for eleven years :an editor of the Eclectic
Repertory. Before he was sixty he began to
develop an impairment of speech and a muscu-
lar tremor which interfered greatly with his
teaching. He resigned in 1834, but was still
president of the Philadelphia College of Sur-
geons when he died in 1835.
He was greater as teacher than as scientist
or practitioner. His morbid sensitiveness and
dread of responsibility kept him from succeeding
in his general practice. Physically, he was digni-
fied, well proportioned, and possessed unusual
beauty of facial expression. From a mental
standpoint he had an unusual intelligence, kindly
and generous emotions, but was constantly in-
hibited by his distrust in himself and in all hu-
man relations. His knowledge of the classics,
of medical history, and of modern languages was
unusual for his time. He published anonymous-
ly, verses and essays; also a versified transla-
tion of the Idyls of Solomon Gessner (Port
Folio, Feb. 2i-May 30, 1801). He is especially
noteworthy for his service to obstetrics. Before
his time the lives of many mothers and children
were sacrificed to the false modesty that refused