James Monroe Deems Band (4th NH Vol Infantry) Books, Set 1. His most important legacy was his 1850 book, "Vocal Music Simplified", which was one of the earliest public-school music texts in the U.S. James Monroe Deems James Monroe Deems (1818–1901) was an American composer and music educator from Baltimore, Maryland, as well as a distinguished Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He served as lieutenant colonel of the 1st Maryland Cavalry. On July 26, 1866 President Andrew Johnson nominated Deems for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United
James Forsyth (college president) served as a judge and a member of the Board of Enrollment in Rensselaer County. He was a longtime trustee of the Troy Female Seminary, which became the Emma Willard School, and Rensselaer. He was president of Rensselaer from 1868 to 1886. James Forsyth (college president) James Forsyth (September 8, 1817 – August 10, 1886) was an attorney, businessman, and the seventh president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was born in Peru, New York. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1839 and was admitted to the bar in 1842. The following year, he moved to Troy, New York