James Rawlings was born on 25 January 1788 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was principal agent for the Mutual Assurance Society from 1815 to 1837. In the latter year he resigned from the M.A.S. upon being named president of the Farmers’ Bank of Virginia, a position he held for the rest of his life. Rawlings, who twice served as a senior alderman for the city of Richmond, married Susan Monroe Hedgman (1790–1879) in 1814; they adopted one child. James Rawlings died in Richmond in February 1838.