Sometime in the next few years, James moved to Massachusetts. In the 1930 census, he is living on 70 Hall Street in Waltham, with his wife, Jessie (Doucette) McCutcheon, whom he married about 1929. They had no children. James is a millwright in a machine shop, which is someone who designs and erects mills and milling machinery. Waltham city directories list them until 1935, when James appears, without Jessie, in the Eastport city directory. He is working for the Quoddy Project.

But a year later, he is back with Jessie in Waltham, still a millwright. There appears to be an explanation for this. According to many sources, the Quoddy Project was a proposal for generating electricity by harnessing the tides in the Passamaquoddy Bay area, near Eastport. It was initiated in 1935 under President Roosevelt's Public Works Administration. Roosevelt's summer home was on nearby Campobello Island. Part of this project was completed by the construction of dikes. The project was suspended one year later when Congress cut off funds. It looks like James grabbed a good job opportunity during the Depression, or perhaps the company he worked for was hired to do some work on the project.

James and Jessie continued to live in Waltham until he passed away there on November 3, 1980, at the age of 80. Jessie died a year later. According to his obituary, James was survived by several unnamed nieces and nephews. Without any identified descendants to contact, it appears that no other information is available.