James Raymond Alliston, Esq.

Published 9:55 am Friday, March 28, 2025

James Raymond Alliston, Esq. died peacefully on Feb. 21, surrounded by his three children, at Ocean Springs Hospital, where he had been a patient for three weeks.

James was born at home on May 20, 1935, in Biloxi, Mississippi, the eighth of eleven children of the Rev. John Clark Alliston Sr., of Smithland, Kentucky and Lucy Mae Cartwright Alliston, of Opp, Alabama, where she was raised by a Native American father. They lived as tenant farmers and cotton pickers. John, orphaned about age 10, fled abuse as a farm laborer to go to school and learn to read as a teenager, eventually becoming an ordained minister. His preaching against segregation and war made him unpopular during WWI and its aftermath, but John never wavered: in wartime he sheltered his family in Quaker communities, and persisted in his ministry for world peace and kindness to others.

Traveling on foot with their children along the eastern Gulf Coast, Lucy and John arrived in Biloxi on the promise of a position for John as pastor of a church. Unfortunately, the Great Depression made it impossible for the church to provide the expected employment. John worked several jobs and took flowers that Lucy grew to sell on street corners. The children picked cotton and gathered watercress, seagull eggs, and fruit rejected from farmstands.

James—Jim, or Jimmy—grew up in Biloxi and was the first to attend school. Rev. Alliston had not permitted his elder children to receive vaccines, which he saw as an impious interference in God’s will, but without which they could not attend public school.

A teacher at Biloxi High School saw that Jimmy was academically gifted, and with scholarships in addition to financial assistance from his elder sisters, he became the first of his family to attend college, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tulane University. While studying there he met Holly Jane Hendrickson, a Newcomb College student. They married and started their family in New Orleans, then moved to Washington, D.C., where James received his J.D. degree from Georgetown University in 1963. Throughout his time in college and law school, James also served in the United States Army Reserve. After two years as a customs attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he returned to Washington for the rest of his career as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Treasury Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, specializing in customs law. In that capacity he helped write laws signed by several presidents, including imposing limitations on the trade of endangered species and the establishment of American Viticultural Areas, and enforced the return of an ancient Mayan codex stolen from Mexico. He served on the core legal team that created the NAFTA treaty and argued before the United States Supreme Court. He retired after 37 years of service to the Federal Government. Jim loved books and reading. He collected signed first editions as well as original art prints. He also enjoyed classical music, sailing and traveling. Like his father also he was drawn to the quiet, prayerful and pacifist fellowship of the Society of Friends, joining them officially while living in Washington.

Jim devoted his quarter century in retirement mainly to his family. He moved next door to his daughter Amy Fay’s family home in Rice, where he helped raise two of his grandchildren, Eli and Elizabeth Hall. Later he went back to Biloxi/Ocean Springs to help care for his ailing elder sister Evelyn.

According to James’s wishes, his remains were cremated. A celebration of his life and achievements will be announced at a later date.

James is survived and grievously missed by his three children: Prof. April Alliston of Princeton, New Jersey; Mark Ross Alliston of Arlington and Amy Fay Alliston of Rice; five grandchildren: Clarence Elijah and Elizabeth Ross Hall of Rice, Ella Elahe Alliston of Arlington, Neve Alliston and Taran James Alliston Coulson of Princeton, New Jersey; two siblings: Ruby Grace Alliston Fayard of Ocean Springs, Mississippi and Albert Gerald Alliston of Pascagoula, Mississippi; and many nieces and nephews residing in the greater Biloxi area and beyond.

Extend condolences and share memories at the Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the American Friends Service Committee.