William Smith James (February 14, 1914 – April 17, 1993) was a Maryland state politician. James was first elected to office as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

in 1946, and after serving two terms was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1954. He served in the Senate for a further two decades, from 1963 onwards as

President of the Maryland Senate The president of the Maryland Senate is elected by the State Senate. The incumbent is Bill Ferguson who has held the role since 2020. The Maryland Constitution of 1864 created the new position of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, elected by the vot ...

. Following his retirement from the state Senate in 1974, James was appointed

State Treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

, a position he held from 1975 through 1987. His daughter,

Mary-Dulany James Mary-Dulany James (born February 1, 1960) is an American politician who has represented District 34 in the Maryland Senate since 2023. She was previously a member of the District 34A in the Maryland House of Delegates for sixteen years, represen ...

, was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 34A in

Cecil Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

and Harford Counties from 1999 until 2015.

Early life

William Smith James was born the son of E. Roy James, a road builder and dairy farmer, and Mary S. James in Aberdeen, Maryland, on February 14, 1914. His primary education was diverse; he attended public schools in

and Harford counties before matriculating at the Tome School, a private coeducational college preparatory school in Port Deposit. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware and, in 1937, a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, entering the Maryland Bar the same year.

Career

James was rejected for military service in World War II due to a "bum arm". James immediately established a law practice in Bel Air, and continued to practice law there until 1975. He quickly rose to prominence in the legal community, and served as a trial magistrate in Havre de Grace from 1944 to 1946, a position he left when he won election to the Maryland House of Delegates representing Harford County. He ran first for the House of Delegates in 1942, but wasn't successful until 1946. He served in the House of Delegates from 1947 to 1954. He was elected in 1954 to represent Harford County in the Maryland Senate. In 1963, James was elected by his fellow senators to serve as

, a position he held for more than a decade. This led to other prominent positions in state politics. He was the second Vice President of the 1967

Constitutional Convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

, became Chairman of the Commission to Revise the Annotated Code of Maryland in 1970, and in 1971 became Chairperson of the Maryland Democratic Party. During his long career in the Senate, James was recognized for a number of major legislative accomplishments. He helped establish the community college system in Maryland, the Maryland Environmental Trust, and the Maryland Historical Trust, and his work led to the creation of Program Open Space, a program in which real estate taxes are used to purchase park land. His retirement from the Senate in 1974 did not mark his exit from state politics, as the next year he was appointed by the Senate as

, a position to which he was re-elected in 1979 and 1983. Governor William Donald Schaefer, who opposed James's reappointment as State Treasurer, was successful in having the Senate appoint

Lucille Maurer Lucille Maurer (née Darvin; 1922 – June 17, 1996) was the first woman Treasurer of Maryland. Life Maurer graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and she worked as an economist at the ...

in his place. As a result, James retired from politics.

Personal life

In January 1954, he married Margaret Higinbothom with whom he had a son, Robert Roy, and a daughter, Mary-Dulany. Mary-Dulany James, who also became a lawyer, was elected to represent district 34A in Cecil and Harford Counties in 1999. William S. James Elementary School in Harford County and the William S. James Senate Office Building in Annapolis were named in his honor even before his death. His contemporaries called him "Bill" and "Billy". James died on April 17, 1993, at the Lorien-Riverside Nursing Home in Aberdeen. He was remembered by commentators for his dedication to public service and his civility.

References

External links

William James papers
at the

University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, William S. 1914 births 1993 deaths University of Delaware alumni University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni People from Aberdeen, Maryland People from Port Deposit, Maryland Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Maryland politicians