According to "Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names" by Robert L. Ramsay, p. 103:

“St. James River (or James River, Stone Co.). “In the same way that St. James in Phelps County honors Saint James the Apostle directly, but indirectly also Thomas James, its founder, who was a devout Episcopalian.”

The James River, or “The Jeems”, as local residents used to pronounce it, was one of the first areas of European settlement in Southwest Missouri, as chronicled by the first chapter of "The History of Greene County, Missouri 1883, by R.I. Holcombe. In Chapter 27, Holcombe gives a brief description of the history of the James River in relation to Taylor Township of Greene County.

In addition, the Local History and Genealogy Department maintains an Information File about the James River.