James Dennis was born in Wyandotte county, Ohio, on August 10, 1849, being the son of Jonas I. and Sarah (Henry) Dennis, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively. The father, who was a tanner, was born in 1814 and died in Wisconsin, on January 14, 1857. His parents were pioneers in Ohio, as he was in Wisconsin. The mother of our subject came from an old Dutch family and she died March 18, 1893. James was reared and educated in Wisconsin and when eighteen went to Marion county, Iowa. There and in Madison county he remained eleven years. In the spring of 1878, he went to Kansas and later returned to Cass county, Iowa. In 1882 he came to Cheney, Washington, with the Hoyt colony. They shipped wagons and horses to Silver Bow, Montana, and went thence over the old Mullan road to Washington. He labored at railroading near Sandpoint and in 1883 took a homestead near Oakesdale. In the spring of 1893 he sold out and bought property in Oakesdale. In 1897 Mr. Dennis leased school land where he now lives and on December 24, 1901, he purchased the same at auction. He has done excellent work in farming and enjoys the proper reward of thrift and industry.