John H. James

Who was John H. James?

John H. James was an American banker, politician, and businessman who served as the 21st Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1871.

James was born in Henry County, Georgia, where he farmed until moving to Atlanta in 1850 to clerk for $10 a month and after three years was making $700 a year. After that he went into sales, running auctions of books, jewelry and other valuables throughout the Southern states.

During the American Civil War he and his wife travelled to Canada and Nassau, Bahamas, and afterwards they returned to Atlanta where he founded the James Bank. In 1869, he purchased a large city lot that stretched from Peachtree to Spring Street along Cain and built a large mansion. Within a year it was purchased by the state of Georgia to become the Governor's mansion for which purpose it survived until 1923. He made over $30,000 on the deal and immediately built his next home on the south end of that same block.

He won nearly 100% of the December 1871 mayoral election as a Democrat which put an end to the brief surge of Radical Republican power in the city. He sold his home at Ellis and Peachtree in 1883 to the Capital City Club who used it until their new building on Harris was completed in 1913.