Photographs by Walter H. James

Walter H. James (1873-1963) grew up on the family farm on Sagamore Creek in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. WHJ graduated from Portsmouth High School in June of 1891, and went on to be a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

His father Edmund James died, apparently quite suddenly, on November 17, 1891 at age 74 while WHJ was away at MIT. His mother, Annie Mary James was Edmund’s second wife and was fifteen years younger than he was. At age 59 she apparently still felt strong enough to run the farm, with the help of hired men.

Walter graduated in the class of 1895 from MIT, then went on to get a Master’s degree there. In 1899 he married Ida Rachel Butterfield of Dunstable, Massachusetts, and they moved to Waltham, Massachusetts. (read on)