James W. Blackburn was born on April 30, 1841, in Woodford County, Kentucky, to Edward "Ned" Blackburn and Lavinia Bell.[1]
In 1861, Blackburn joined the Confederate States Army, and until 1864, when he was taken prisoner. In February 1865, he was released and served until the end of the war.[1]
In the 1870 United States census, he was listed as a farmer with four children, James, Samuel, Mary, and Henrietta.[1]
In 1875, Blackburn was elected a member of the Kentucky Senate, a position he held until 1879.[1] In 1880, he was appointed Secretary of State of Kentucky by his brother and Governor Luke P. Blackburn.[2] He served in that position until 1883. He was also a member of the 1890 Kentucky Constitutional Convention, which introduced amendments to the Kentucky Constitution.[1]
Blackburn possibly moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, sometime after 1900. The 1920 United States census lists a James Blackburn from Kentucky as living in Symmes Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, with a birth date of "about 1840." James Blackburn, living in Ohio, died on February 17, 1926.[1]