John Garland James

John Garland James (born December 1, 1844 – February 12, 1930) was an American Civil War veteran, banker and academic administrator. He was the second President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1867. In 1865 while at VMI, he was the first initiate and a charter member of the Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

Early life John Garland James was born in Palmyra, Fluvanna County, Virginia, on December 1, 1844, to Henry and Eliza Maria (Wills) James. He had an older brother, Charles Albert James, and a younger brother, Fleming Wills James.

Education

Virginia Military Institute James graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with second honors on July 4, 1866. During his college career, he served in the Confederate Army, acting as a color guard and third corporal in the Battle of New Market and fighting in the intermediate lines during the evacuation of Richmond in 1865. His brother Fleming fought alongside him. Close inspection of his picture in his cadet uniform reveals that he is wearing his ΑΤΩ badge on his chest.

Otis Alan Glazebrook, the valedictorian of the class of 1866 and the primary founder of ΑΤΩ, made the following statement regarding James. "James was the profoundest scholar I ever knew." He was joined in the move by his friend and fellow Virginia Military Institute alumnus and Alpha Tau Omega member, Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie.

The scandal of the previous staff provided James' with considerable challenges. The enrollment had begun to fall, and by 1881 the number of cadets had fallen to 90 students. James focused on the Corps of Cadets, doing his utmost to ensure that they were well provided for and the improvement of the facilities. However, this success was short lived. In November 1882 through early 1883, a dozen cadets and a faculty member died of influenza, measles, dysentery and/or other related disorders. Rumors began to surface statewide that the deaths were due to the poor location of the college. The enrollment challenges of the college were further pressed with the opening of the University of Texas in early 1883.

During his tenure, James taught mental and moral philosophy and political economy. He strongly advocated for the military training aspect of A&M's curriculum, aligning with his past as a VMI cadet, a Confederate soldier, and the Morrill Act's requirements for military education in land-grant colleges. The following is a quote from James regarding his beliefs about military training in an academic setting.

Banking, mortgage and real estate On April 1, 1883, James left Texas A&M to join his brother Fleming in a banking venture in Colorado, Texas. He married Clara White (Brigham) Trowbridge, who had two daughters from a previous marriage, on February 6, 1883. By 1884, he was in Wichita Falls as president of the Panhandle National Bank. Around 1906, he began focusing on mortgages and real estate, living in Roff, Oklahoma, from 1900 to 1929. I am glad to say I still feel young, am active mentally and physically and can easily walk ten or twelve miles and stand about as much work as ever. Am temperate and ever have been, never a user of tobacco nor addicted to strong drink. Have been busy all my life and much interested in all that goes on Have accumulated very little, my life largely devoted to other things than money-making, and am better off, I reckon, than it I had a mil-lion dollars as a millstone around my neck. My library is my greatest pleasure, not a big one, but along lines that interest me, especially valuable in respect to literature of native authors of Spanish-American republics, Philippine Islands and West Indies. I have perhaps 1500 volumes in Spanish and about 500 volumes in French, (mainly French Revolution, Napoleon and the Ancient Regime), Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Dialects of Spanish and French. I am fond of modern languages.James went to Dallas for medical attention in 1929 and died there on February 11, 1930 at the age of 85, after an extended illness. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin two days later.