James A. Scrymser was born on July 18, 1839, in New York, to James and Ann Scrymser. He attended school in Yonkers, New York.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on April 20, 1861, and he mustered into the 12^th New York Militia Infantry. He mustered out in August 1861. He returned to the Union army soon afterward, receiving a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company K of the 43^rd New York Infantry in October 1861. He later earned a promotion to captain, and he served as aide-de-camp to General William F. Smith. He took part in the Peninsula campaign, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. He resigned on February 26, 1863. He returned to General Smith’s staff in April 1864, and he took part in the Battle of Cold Harbor. He resigned again in June 1864.  

 

He returned to New York after leaving the army, and he married Mary Prince on December 16, 1868. They apparently had no children. He worked in the telegraph industry. He helped organize the International Ocean Telegraph Company, which reportedly “operat[ed] a cable line between the United States and Cuba, West Indies and South America.” He then organized the Mexican Telegraph Company in 1879 and the Central and South American Telegraph Company in 1880. According to an early biographer, these “three companies established 12,000 miles of cable and 2,500 miles [of] land line.”  

 

He served as a director of the New York Botanical Garden, a fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He died in New York City on April 21, 1918.

 

Image: James A. Scrymser (Personal Reminiscences of James A. Scrymser)

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