James Barbour served on the first Board of Trustess of Centre College from 1819 to 1827. Barbour was a native of Orange County, Virginia, and belonged to an old English family, long distinguished in the affairs of the Old Dominion; he came to Kentucky, and located in Danville in 1795; followed mercantile pursuits; entered the army as captain in the War of 1812, and was promoted major of what was known as Barbee’s Regiment; was President of the branch Bank of Kentucky at Danville; was a Trustee and Treasurer of Centre College for many years. Also a Trustee and Treasurer of the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum (Kentucky School for the Deaf), and otherwise one of the most active and useful men of his day. He died in Danville in 1843.