James Wheelock Ripley was a brother of Eleazar Wheelock Ripley and a United States Representative from Maine. He was born in Hanover, New Hampshire March 12, 1786. He attended the common schools and Fryeburg Academy. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Fryeburg (which was a part of Massachusetts until 1820).
He served in the War of 1812. He was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1814-1819, and was elected from Maine to the Nineteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Enoch Lincoln and on the same day was elected to the Twentieth Congress. He was reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress and served from September 11, 1826, to March 12, 1830 when he resigned.
He resumed the practice of law, and was a collector of customs for the district of Passamaquoddy from December 16, 1830 until his death in Fryeburg on June 17, 1835. His interment was in the Village Cemetery.