Born: October 19, 1865, Singers Glen, Virginia.
Died: April 4, 1948.
Buried: Dayton Cemetery, Dayton, Virginia.
James was the son of Ephraim Ruebush and Virginia Kieffer, and great-grandson of Joseph Funk.
He studied with H. N. Barttelb, Horatio Palmer, and F. W. Root, and at the Grand Conservatory of Music in New York. He taught at Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia, 1886–1936.