James M. Varnum

James Mitchell Varnum (June 29, 1848 – March 26, 1907) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Early life Varnum was born on June 29, 1848, in New York City, the son of New York State Assembly Speaker Joseph B. Varnum and Susan M. Graham. His great-grandfather was Major General Joseph B. Varnum.

Varnum graduated from Yale University in 1868. He then attended Columbia Law School, graduating from there in 1871 and was admitted to the bar shortly afterwards.

In 1879, Varnum was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing the New York County 11th District. He served in the Assembly in 1879 and 1880. He was then put on the Military Staff of Governor Cornell as senior Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Colonel in the New York National Guard, serving in that position from 1880 to 1882. In 1881, he was a New York commissioner to receive French and German guests for the Yorktown centennial. In 1883, he was chairman of the Committee of Arrangement for the Evacuation Day centennial. In 1889, he was a committee member that supervised the centennial celebration of Washington's inauguration. He served as the grand marshal of the New York City lawyers in the 1896 Sound Money Parade. In 1899, then-governor Theodore Roosevelt appointed him Surrogate of New York County. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.