Thomas James and the James Store in the Historic Record

Thomas James, the original owner of the Thomas James Store, was born on February 24, 1777 in Kingston Parish of Gloucester County to Matthias James and Elizabeth Davis.6 He was married in c.1815 to Frances Lewis, and had three sons and three daughters. James was a merchant, with retail licenses recorded in the Mathews Land Tax Records between 1815 and 1820.7 It is likely that he continued to hold a license after 1820, but that was the last year that retail licenses were recorded in the local land tax records. In the census of 1820, Thomas James was listed as the head of a household that included five children under the age of ten, one child under the age of sixteen, and one female and one male aged 26 to 45. Two of these family members were stated as engaged in commerce, with the second likely being James's eldest son, who may have apprenticed with his father in anticipation of one day taking over the family business.8 James was a prominent citizen of Mathews County; he was also a postmaster at Mathews Court House in 18109 and a recorded Justice of the Peace from 1819 to 1821, as well as in 1824.10

Thomas James first appears in the Mathews County Land Tax Records in 1807, owning 76 acres of land in an unlisted location. These 76 acres were later listed in the 1814 Land Tax Records as being located in "Milford Haven," which also listed another 16 acres of land at "Pudding Creek." In 1815, James purchased 54 acres of land in Mathews Court House from John Patterson. This purchase included the property upon which the Thomas James Store stands. By 1819, the buildings standing on these 54 acres were valued at $630.11 Although it is likely that the Thomas James Store had been constructed by 1819, it is impossible to tell from the Land Tax Records which building values signify the James Store, so we must rely on architectural evidence to determine a construction date for the building. Thomas James's family home was probably also located on this property in the Court House, with the store being one of several outbuildings.

Over the next 25 years, Thomas James's landholdings in Mathews Court House gradually rose; in 1820, he owned 74 acres, in 1824 he added an additional 18-acre property in the Court House, and by 1840 his Mathews Court House holdings totaled 129 ¾ acres. The building value on the James Store Court House property fluctuated as well, presumably as new structures were built and older ones destroyed or moved, and by 1845 James owned $2000 in buildings on the property. He owned other properties in the county as well; between 1819 and 1827, James acquired land in Reade Swamp, Milford Haven, East River, Bandy Ridge, Pudding Creek, and Mathews Court House. By the time the James Store lot was sold in 1846, Thomas James owned approximately 317 acres of land, with buildings valued at $2,150.12 It is apparent that James was wealthy enough to be able to gradually increase his landholdings, and to build and pay taxes on these highly valued buildings. In addition to land and buildings, Thomas James owned a large number of slaves, particularly considering his comparatively small landholdings. In the 1820 census, James was listed as owning ten slaves; by 1830 he owned fifteen slaves, and by 1840 he was listed with sixteen slaves. Since James's landholdings were too small to be involved in large-scale agriculture, his profession in commerce must have proven a lucrative one. By 1840, the census lists six members of the James family occupied in agriculture, and none in commerce.13 It is possible that upon retirement from commerce, James used his accrued lands to pursue agriculture for the remainder of his life.