James Cameron was born in Lancaster County in 1801, the fourth child of Charles and Martha Pfoutz Cameron.  In 1808 the family moved to Sunbury.  They were very poor, and when the father died, James began working at the Northumberland County Gazette, along with his older brother Simon.  In 1827 he worked as a publisher of the Lycoming Gazette and only two years later he returned to Lancaster County as publisher of the Political Sentinel.  At that time he read law with James Buchanan, later President of the United States.  He was admitted to the bar in 1829 and practiced law until 1846 during which time he served in various public offices including that of superintendent of motive power on the Columbia & Philadelphia Railroad.

In 1846-47 Cameron was a sutler at New Orleans during the Mexican War.  The following year he went to Virginia and was engaged in building the steamship Powhatan and repairing other vessels for the government.  He bought the Mansion Farm in Milton in 1841, and in 1851 he moved to Milton to enjoy the pursuits of a gentleman farmer.  He also assumed a position of importance on the Northern Central Railroad with headquarters in Sunbury.  His statue in situated in Cameron Park, Sunbury.  In 1856 he sought the Democratic nomination for Congress but was defeated.  He was active in local affairs and especially in support of the Milton Fair where he was judge of livestock and submitted numerous entries in the various classes.

As the Southern States began to secede from the Union prior to the Civil War, James Cameron was engaged by the U.S. Government as a secret agent to intercept dispatches from the seceding states and otherwise watch their secret movements.

Upon Lincoln’s ascension to the Presidency, Simon Cameron, James’ brother, had been made Secretary of War.  It was through Simon’s recommendation that James be named Colonel of the Seventy-ninth New York Regiment in June 21, 1861.