James Warren English (1837-1925) was born in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, to Andrew English (1815-1850) and Mary Warren (1817-?). When he was 15, James worked as an apprentice to a carriage-maker. In 1862, he married Emily Alexander (1839-1907). They had six children: James Warren, Jr. (1867-1914), Edgar Alexander (1870-1870), Harry Lee (1871-1938), Emily Alexander (1874-1945), Jennie (1876-1974), and Edward Alexander (1884-1912). In 1861, English joined the Confederate States of America Army as a member of Company D, Georgia 2nd Infantry Battalion. He served until the end of the Civil War in 1865, by which time he had risen to the rank of captain. After the war, English returned to Atlanta. He defeated H.I. Kimball in 1880 to become mayor and held the position until 1883.

In 1885, English founded the Chattahoochee Brick Company with William B. Lowe (1839-1900) through the purchase of B. G. Lockett and Company and a merger with Lowe Steel and Company. English served as the president of the company until 1925. English, who was also the president of the third Penitentiary Company of Georgia, controversially used convict labor as the Chattahoochee Brick Company’s main labor source. He continued this practice until it was abolished in 1909. Additionally, English served as the president of the American Trust and Banking Company, which opened in 1890, and then of the Fourth National Bank of Atlanta, which opened in 1896 when the American Trust and Banking Company was nationalized. The bank boasted a department exclusively for women and was housed in the Fourth National Bank Building at the corner of Marietta and Peachtree Streets. English also served on the board of directors of the Central of Georgia Railway Company and helped incorporate the Fulton County Street Railroad in 1883.