James Herring, born John Herring, was born on August 23, 1889, in Dry Branch, Georgia to John Herring and Ellen Henderson. He lived in Providence, Rhode Island, and served for six years as a private in the U.S. Coast Artillery. Mr. Herring and wife Elsie Tallman had two children and lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was 5’9 ½ , had red hair, blue eyes, multiple tattoos, and was a Protestant.
Mr. Herring was incarcerated in the Massachusetts Reformatory on January 4, 1917. In early 1918, he contracted lobar pneumonia from an influenza infection. He died October 13, 1918, at 29. According to his Massachusetts Reformatory ledger, he was buried at the Concord Prison Cemetery "as the wife, who was notified [of his death], could not take the body."
