When James (Sometimes he was known as James T. Anderson) was three years of age, the family moved from Ephraim to Circle Valley, by request of President Brigham Young, but the Indian troubles became so bad they left their homes and went back to Ephraim to take up farming again in 1866.

James was a good looking young man, short and stocky. He had a long body and rather short legs and arms (a family characteristic, even to the third generation). He had light, curly hair, and very blue eyes, was witty and quick and liked sports and adventure. As long as his children knew him, he wore a short, sandy mustache.
His schooling was very meager. He did go to school to probably the 8th grade. He wrote a good hand, and was an excellent reader, loving to read aloud.

He married Martha Caroline Thomander - in Ephraim July 2, 1886. The second year after their marriage, he fell from a wagon of logs he was helping another man bring down from the mountains, and the wagon passed over his leg, breaking it badly. There were no doctors in the community, so he had to lay with weights on his leg for the biggest part of a year. It left him with a slight limp.

He was a very hard working man. His early life was in the sheep business. James then tried to raise cattle, cross Sanpitch. After a drought the family moved to Castle Dale. After some problems the family moved back to Ephraim. After a time they moved to Castle Gate to work in the coal industry. After several years of back breaking work in the coal mines, James bought some land in Spring Glen to try some farming. After a few years the family moved to Lake View, in Utah County. After a few more years, James and his family moved to Richfield. After several years of trying his hand at farming, they moved to Ogden so James could work for the railroad.
Just before James died he went to seek treatment in Hot Springs Arkansas. A short time after returning from Arkansas he passed away.

Notes:

Family stories say that James legally changed his middle name from Peter to "T" because someone else in town also had the same name. James changed his name to avoid debt collectors seeking the other James Peter Anderson.

Although the headstone has his birth date being August 28, 1862 and his death date being February 15, 1929, his death certificate has his birth date being August 28, 1866 and his death date being February 16, 1929.