This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: James Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/hMB.2ACI/868.4 Message Board Post: Hi, It was actually Jesse's stepfather, Reuben Samuel, who was a physician before he married Zerelda Cole James in 1855. Jesse's real father, the Rev. Robert James, was a Baptist preacher. Zerelda was also married briefly to Benjamin Simms, a neighbor.