James Stead

James Stead (May 23, 1832 – May 27, 1902) was an American steamer superintendent and politician from New York.

Life Stead was born on May 23, 1832, in Cairo, New York, son of farmer and woolen manufacturer David Stead and Hannah Mackelwaite. His parents were both English immigrants, his father immigrating from Huddersfield, England.

Stead left home when he was eighteen and began working as a clerk for Penfield, Day & Co., which managed a steamboat line between New York City and Catskill. He later became a captain for the company, serving with them for several years. He then spent three years as captain of a steamer owner by Hamilton & Smith, freighting between New Baltimore and New York. He later worked as a salesman for the firm on a line of boats between Coxsackie and New York. He spent a year during the American Civil War working for the government as an inspector of the bay for the army, loading schooners in Jersey City and making reports to Quartermaster Brown. He then spent three years as captain of the New Champion, a boat owned by Black & Donahue that ran from Catskill to New York. He then worked with George H. Penfield, his first employer, by running a line of barges for two years. After another three years working on the New Champion again, he became an organizer of the Catskill and New York Steamboat Company.

Stead attended the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1865, he married Rachel E. Pettit of Dutchess County. They had a daughter, Ida H. He was buried in the Town of Catskill Cemetery.