James H. Wolff

James Harris Wolff (August 4, 1847 – May 3, 1913) was an American Civil War veteran, civil rights activist, and prominent attorney in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), and he was the only African American to hold that position.

Early life, military service, and education James Harris Wolff was born on August 4, 1847, in Border Springs, Lowndes County, Mississippi, to parents Eliza and Abraham Wolff. He was raised on a farm in Holderness, New Hampshire. From December 4, 1862, until June 17, 1865, during the American Civil War, he served in the United States Navy in the rank of Landsman, and served on the USS Minnesota and the USS Maratanza.

Career He passed the Suffolk County Bar on June 26, 1875. The other founding partners included Edwin Garrison Walker, and Edward Everett Brown.

Wolff served as president of the Wendell Phillips Club, and was a founding member of the Crispus Attucks Club in Boston. He was a Republican.

In 1899, Wolff became a commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) a fraternal organization of Civil War veterans, at Francis Washburn Post 92 in Brighton neighborhood of Boston.

Death Wolff died of hypertrophy of the prostate on May 3, 1913, in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and was buried at Ridgelawn Cemetery in Watertown.