Benjamin B. and Edmund J. James born in Winchester and Jacksonville, Ill. respectively, and descendants of Robert Day (1604-1638) were both dedicated to education. Benjamin was educated at Northwestern and taught physics, was superintendant of schools in Waukesha Wisconsin, then at the Academy of James Milliken University and finally taught sociology and headed the education department at Whitewater State Normal School at Whitewater, Wisconsin. Edmund graduated from Illinois State University and received his Ph. D. from University of Halle, Prussia, which is where he met his wife, Anna Lange. He taught Public Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and directed the Wharton School of Finance and Economics from 1884-1896. In 1902 he became president of Northwestern University and was there until 1904 when he became president of the University of Illinois, where he remained for sixteen years when he retired in 1920 due to ill health.
From the description of Scrapbooks, 1894-1928. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 49047493
