Finding Aid to the James-Watts Collection

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
JAMES - WATTS COLLECTION
The collection includes the flight school training workbooks of John William JAMES,
Jr., during World War II. Also included are: photographs and photograph albums, one of
which contains construction photographs of the Panama Canal; the history of E.C. Glass
High School, Lynchburg, Virginia; sheet music (vocal and instrumental); and a collection
of stereoscopic views.
BOX 1

1-1 JAMES - WATTS Miscellaneous notes
1-2 JAMES, Maj. John William, Headquarters, 317th Infantry A.E.F., France
1918-1919; U.S. Nansemond (Memos, orders, etc.)
1-3 News Outline (1932)
1-4 E.C. Glass High School History (ca.1933)
1-5 Radio News and Short Wave Radio (1936)
1-6 JAMES, John William, Jr., Letters of recommendation (1942), Birth
Certificate (1921)
1-7 Class Notes (1943?)
1-8 Special Orders 43 & 44 (1943), Cadet Examining Board
1-9 Special Orders 17 & 46 (1943), 27th College Training Detachment,
University of Toledo
1-10 Student Workbooks (1943) - I
1-11 Student Workbooks (1943) - II
1-12 Preflight School (1943), Santa Ana Army Air Base
1-13 Sixth A.A.F. Flying Training Department, Southwest Airways, Inc.,
Glendale, Arizona (1943)
1-14 Civil Air Regulations (1945)
1-15 Maps - "The War Fronts" (1944); "Prison Camps" (1945)
1-16 Scrapbook, World War II
1-17 Prisoner of War Bulletin (Dec 1944-Mar 1945)
1-18 Air Force (1945)
1-19 The United States News (1945?)
1-20 Henry H. BURDICK, "Employment of the Battalion Intelligence Section
in Open Warfare" (abstract)
1-21 Miscellaneous Booklets, Pamphlets, etc.: Souvenir of Pressed Wild
Flowers, Yellowstone National Park; Lake Placid Club Kalendar (1931)
"Take it or leave it" (1943); Rating Scale; "Continuance of National
Service Life; Insurance (Veterans) (1944); "G.I. Bill of Rights" (1944);
"Soldier's Mentor" (1917); "How to make good pictures" (1921)
(Continued)
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JAMES - WATTS COLLECTION (Continued)
BOX 2

2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4
2-5
2-6
2-7
2-8
2-9
2-10
2-11

BOX 3

The World War through the Stereoscope (Vols. 1-4)

BOX 4

The World War through the Stereoscope (Vols. 5-6)
Tour of the World (Vols. 1-8)
Stereoscope (Jones Memorial Library)
Scrapbook (kept by Ann James ([Mrs. John W. James, Jr.])

Photographs, Miscellaneous
Photograph Album, Panama Canal construction
Photograph Album (1912-1916)
Photograph Album (1905-1921)
Gustav Kobbe, Opera Singers
Sheet Music (Vocal & Instrumental), Mary WATTS)
Sheet Music (Vocal & Instrumental), Mary WATTS)
Sheet Music (Vocal & Instrumental), Mary WATTS)
Sheet Music (Vocal & Instrumental), Mary WATTS)
"Game of Election" (1936)
Hymnals 1917, 1925 (Mary WATTS)

MS1347

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
JOHN WILLIAM JAMES, JR. (1921-1977)
John William JAMES, Jr., son of John William James, Sr., and Mary WATTS, was
born 20 September 1921, in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended Virginia Episcopal School
in Lynchburg and Hampden-Sydney College. During World War II, he served as a pilot
in the United States Air Force. He was trained at the 27th College Training Detachment,
University of Toledo, and at Santa Ana Army Air Base. [Obituary, Lynchburg News, 3 June
1977, Sect. C, p. 6 col. 2; James-Watts Collection, MS1347, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA.]

John William JAMES, Jr., married Ann Cass CARR and was an employee of the Mutual
of New York Insurance Company. He died 2 June 1977, in Lynchburg, Virginia, and
was buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery. [Obituary, loc.cit.]

JOHN WILLIAM JAMES, SR. (1888-1959)
John William JAMES, Sr., son of Charles Fenton JAMES and Alice CHAMBLIN,
was born 12 April 1888 in Culpeper, Virginia. He attended schools in Danville and
Lynchburg and was active in sports. He served in the Virginia National Guard on the
Mexican border in 1916. He was later graduated as captain from officer training school
at Fort Myer. During World War I, he served in the Argonne, France, and rose to the
rank of Major. [Obituary,"John William James," Lynchburg News, 19 September 1959, p. 8 col. 1.]
On 16 October 1920, John William JAMES married Mary WATTS of Lynchburg,
daughter of Richard T. WATTS and Margaret HURT. ["James-Watts Nuptials," Lynchburg

News, 17 October 1920, p. 9 col. 1; Obituary, "Mary Watts James," Lynchburg News, 3 February 1979, p.
11 col. 1.]

John William JAMES, Sr., retired in 1948 as vice-president of the Craddock-Terry
Shoe Corporation. He was also a director of the Peoples National Bank and Trust
Company, the Cooperative Building and Loan Association, the Boonsboro Corporation,
and the Lynchburg Theater Corporation. He also served on the board of the YMCA and
was a member of the Kiwanis Club. He died 18 September 1959, while on a hunting trip
in Appomattox County, Virginia, and was buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in
Lynchburg. [Obituary, "John William James," loc.cit.; Burial Record, Diuguid Funeral Home,
Lynchburg, VA, Book 49, p. 86, Microfilmed record, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA; Editorial,
Lynchburg News, 21 September 1959, p. 6 col. 1.]

(Continued)

MS1347

MARY WATTS JAMES (1889-1979)
Mary WATTS, daughter of Richard T. WATTS and Emma Margaret HURT, was born
2 February 1889, in Lynchburg, Virginia. She married 16 October 1920 John William
JAMES, son of Charles Fenton JAMES and Alice CHAMBLIN. A member of Court
Street United Methodist Church, she was also active in the work of the YWCA. She died
2 February 1979 and was buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg. [Obituary,

"Mary Watts James," Lynchburg News, 3 February 1979, p. 11 col. 1; "James-Watts Nuptials," Lynchburg
News, 17 October 1920, p. 9 col. 1; Burial record, Diuguid Funeral Home, Lynchburg, VA, Book 68 p.
196.]

MS1347