Obituaries: Thomas Jefferson James, 1940, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: July 18, 1940 Winn Parish Enterprise

T. J. James, 96, Confederate Vet, Buried Sunday

Last Rites Are Conducted At Old Union Church

Thomas Jefferson James, 96 years and 29 days of age, died on Saturday at his
plantation home on Ouachita River near Columbia and was buried at Old Union
Church Cemetery five miles east of Winnfield Sunday afternoon.

The deceased was born in Mississippi, but was brought to Winn Parish when an
infant by his father whose name was also Thomas Jefferson James.  The family
settled near where he was buried.  His father was one of the leaders in
creating Winn Parish in 1852 and his three sons, Chris, Randall, and Thomas
Jefferson, for many years were business and political leaders in the parish
and at one time owned many thousands of acres of the finest timber lands in
the parish.

Near the turn of the century, Mr. Tom James sold his Winn Parish holdings and
bought a large plantation on the Ouachita River near Columbia, which he
operated until his death.  He was the father of State Senator John James of
Columbia.  Besides Senator James he is survived by his third wife, Mrs. Jessie
James, sons Columbus and Jesse of Columbia, and three daughters, Mrs. Maggie
Duff, Columbia, Mrs. D. D. Pool, Tallulah, and Mrs. G. I. Kelly of Winnfield,
besides hundreds of other relatives.  The James family reunion held each year
at Hudson Camp Grounds is one of the largest gatherings of its kind in the
state.  Over 1,000 descendants of the original Thomas Jefferson James are
registered.

With the passing of Uncle Tom James, as he was familiarly known, Winn Parish's
last Confederate veteran is gone.  W. E. Dark of Gaars Mill is a Confederate
veteran, but joined out from Carrollton, Georgia.  Mr. James enlisted from
Winn Parish and saw action at Pleasant Hill and the Battle of Mansfield.

Funeral services were conducted by Rev. John Kitchingham and the pastor of the
Columbia Baptist Church, assisted by the Rev. Harrison Cockerham of the Old
Union Baptist Church, and hundreds of relatives and friends from many sections
of the state came to pay their respects to a man loved and honored by all who
knew him.