James Castellaw was a resident of Bertie Precinct, North Carolina. In 1721 he was part of the grand jury that indicted John Cope, an American Indian man, with burglary and trespassing. He later served several terms as a member of the North Carolina Colonial Assembly from 1725 to 1745. Archival evidence suggests Castellaw was highly familiar with his Tuscarora neighbors. No only does he appear on several legal documents alongside Tuscarora individuals, but geneaological evidence indicates his son married a Tuscarora woman named Martha Butler. He died in Bertie in about 1749.