Born circa 1759 in England to Benjamin and Mary Blackburn; died before 10 October 1831 in Jefferson County, Alabama. Enlisted in 1778 from South Carolina and served in Count Pulaski’s Independent Dragoons and the Continental Line as a sergeant - his tombstone reads “SGT CONTINENTAL LINE REVOLUTIONARY WAR” - from May 1778 to his November 1779 discharge, and later served in the 1820 Seminole War from Blount County. Recorded in the 1830 US Census at the Locust Fork of the Warrior River, Blount County, Alabama. A government-issued bronze memorial marker honoring his Revolutionary War service was dedicated at his family cemetery on 10 July 1979.
Notable descendants:
- Andrew, Robert, James (1787-1878), Rev. Joel (1794-1873), Elizabeth (d. 1908), Malinda Lydia (1801-1861), William (b. 1803), and John (b. 1805) - eight children with his first, unnamed wife.
- A son named James, born 1831 - with his second wife, Mary “Polly” McDaniel, the same year James Sr. died.