He was the son of James Fleming, a political lieutenant of Senator
Edward Murphy Jr. The Flemings were in the wholesale
liquor business, but James W. Fleming sold it after the death of his father. He attended Troy Academy, and graduated from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was a director of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Troy, and of the Troy Gas Company. He was vice president of the Manhattan Navigation Company, and of the Casualty Company of America. On June 15, 1911, he was appointed New York State Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner to replace
Thomas Mott Osborne who had resigned. On July 17, 1911, he was appointed one of three commissioners of the
New York State Conservation Commission, a body into which the Forest, Fish and Game Commission had been merged with the Water Supply Commission, the Forest Purchasing Board and the Black River Power Commission. He was a delegate to the
1912,
1920 and
1924 Democratic National Conventions. He was Mayor of
Troy, New York in 1920 and 1921. He was
New York State Comptroller from 1923 to 1924, elected in
1922, but defeated for re-election in
1924 by
Vincent B. Murphy. ==See also==