James Ross was probably born at Finleyville, Peter Township, Washington County, PA, to which place his parents had retreated during the years 1784-1791 when the Indians in and around Allegheny County were quite hostile. It is said that he never was or ever had been afraid of God or man. He stood 6'7" tall and was a law unto himself. His acumen as an attorney went to further his business undertakings rather than to the practice of law, however in later years, his legal battles might have been more successful had he heeded the maxim of his own profession - "That he who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client." Early in the 19th century he opened up the Pittsburgh surface vein of coal underlying his share of the land he had received from his father's estate, and pioneered the boating of it down the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh. He formed a partnership with James Kelly, but this was dissolved when they battled in court over Kelly having given a piece of land to the Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind which allegedly belonged to James Ross. Then Kelly, representing James' brother, Joshua, and Joshua's sons, Samuel Brison and William B. Ross, sued James in a family dispute over the division of the estate of Thomas Ross. However the lengthiest of his legal battles was with the Shoemaker family over a tract of 21,000 acres of timberland on Clearfield Creek, Cambria County, PA, which dragged on for over thirty years. [RBK]. "He won it thru several court decisions. The Court House burned down with all previous records, so the Shoemakers again brought suit. James Ross was an old man, and, according to my mother, the most stubborn man that ever existed He refused help, and because he had done it before, he acted as his own lawyer. He was very old and broken in health. He lost the case; the Shoemakers won. However my father, John William Gorrell, told me later, over other claims and land dealings, the Shoemakers were found guilty of fraudulent claims under oath and were sent to prison." (Helen Gorrell Wise to RBK). "One dark night in the fall of '96 . . . when James . . . was a small boy, he was listening to some men who lived at their home telling ghost stories. After they had finished, he laughed and said that hedidn't believe that there were such things as ghosts. One of the men offered him a quarter if he would go to the corn field and get a pumpkin. He replied that he was willing to carry pumpkins all night at that price. To reach the field he had to go over the hill and down through the woods for at least half a mile. When he started he filled his pockets with stones. He reached the corn field in safety, got his pumpkin, and was on his return trip coming through the woods when suddenly at the top of the hill, a ghost stepped from behind a tree. James laid down the pumpkin and opened up on Mr. Ghost with stones which caused a speedy retreat on the part of the ghost. James delivered the pumpkin and received his quarter, and then asked if they wanted anymore pumpkins that night. They asked him if he had seen anything and he replied, 'Oh yeah, there was someone on the hill with a sheet on, but I stoned him away.'" (Appendix C)