(1786-1835), brother of Eleazar Wheelock Ripley and a U.S. Representative, was born in Hanover, New Hampshire on March 12, 1786. He attended the common schools and Fryeburg Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Fryeburg.
Ripley served in the War of 1812 and was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1814-1819).
Elected from Maine to the Nineteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Enoch Lincoln. On the same day he was elected to the Twentieth Congress, and was reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress serving from September 11, 1826, to March 12, 1830, when he resigned.
He resumed the practice of law and was collector of customs for the district of Passamaquoddy from December 16, 1830 until his death in Fryeburg on June 17, 1835, with interment in the Village Cemetery.
Additional resources
Congressional Biography of James Wheelock Ripley: https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=R000266