Early Life and Career
The oldest of eight children, Arthur James was born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, to James D. and Rachel (née Edwards) James. His parents were Welsh immigrants; his father worked as a mining foreman and his mother as a schoolteacher. As a child, he worked as a breaker boy and mule driver in the coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. His mother died while he was still in grammar school, and his father subsequently tutored him and his siblings.
After graduating from Plymouth High School in 1901, James studied at Dickinson Law School in Carlisle. While attending Dickinson, he was a member of the varsity basketball team and continued to work as a mule driver in Plymouth during summers. In 1904, he earned his law degree and was admitted to the bar. He entered into private practice in Plymouth, later opening another office in Wilkes-Barre. In 1912, he married Ada Norris, to whom he remained married until her early death in 1935; the couple had one daughter and one son, who died during infancy. From 1920 to 1926, he served as district attorney of Luzerne County.
In 1926, James was elected Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania after defeating his Democratic opponent, former state Senator W. Clayton Hackett, by 761,619 votes. After serving one term under Governor John S. Fisher, he was elected as a judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, serving from 1932 to 1939.
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