John James Allen (September 25, 1797 – September 18, 1871) was born at Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia. His father was a distinguished lawyer and a judge of the circuit court. John Allen receiv

John James Allen (September 25, 1797 – September 18, 1871) was born at Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia. His father was a distinguished lawyer and a judge of the circuit court. John Allen received his education at Washington College and at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

Judge Allen was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals and, in 1851, became president when the court was reorganized again. He resigned in April 1865 and retired to private life in Botetourt County where he died in 1871.

The James River originates in Botetourt County, near the village of Iron Gate, just south of the Alleghany County border by the merger of the pristine Cowpasture River and the Jackson River.

James River High School (JRHS) is a public high school in Buchanan, Virginia. It serves the northern part of Botetourt County, including the towns of Buchanan, Eagle Rock, Fincastle, and Springwood. James River was founded in 1959 with the consolidation of the Buchanan, Eagle Rock, and Fincastle high schools.

With the addition of band director Dale Hedrick in 2001, JRHS has had a very successful Competition Marching Band, winning numerous awards and almost doubling its size. In 2006, Dale Hedrick left James River and the band received a new band director, William Divers. The band later traveled to New York City to play in a Veterans Day parade in front of their biggest audience yet in 2010.