William S. James (1914-1993)
MSA SC 3520-1556
Biography:
William S. James, State Treasurer from 1975-1987, was born in Aberdeen, the son of E. Roy and Mary S. James, on February 14, 1914. He attended the public schools of Cecil and Harford counties, the Tome School at Port Deposit, the University of Delaware, and the University of Maryland School of Law from which he received the degree of J.D. in 1937. He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1937 and practiced law in Bel Air from that date until 1975. He served as a Trial Magistrate for Havre de Grace between 1944 and 1946, when he was elected to represent Harford County in the House of Delegates. He served in that body until 1954 when he was elected to the State Senate, serving continuously through 1974. In 1963 he was elected President of the Senate and served in that post until his retirement in 1974. Mr. James was Second Vice-President of the Constitutional Convention of 1967-1968, and in 1971 he became the Chairperson of the Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland, a position he resigned after he became State Treasurer. He was elected State Treasurer in January 1975, in January 1979, and again in January 1983 for terms of four years. Mr. James served as Chairman of the Commission to Revise the Annotated Code from 1970-1987.
Mr. James was married to the former Margaret Higinbothom on January 16, 1954. They had one son, Robert Roy, and a daughter, Mary-Dulany James. William S. James died in April 1993.
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