 Saint James is the second iteration of an innovative type of school conceived by William Augustus Muhlenberg (1796–1877) who founded model schools on Long Island in 1828 and 1836.The founding Rector of Saint James was John Barrett Kerfoot (1816–1881), who was Muhlenberg's principal disciple for thirteen years before Muhlenberg sent him to Western Maryland to extend the mission.The models established at Flushing and College Point, Long Island, and in St. James, Maryland, were the mother lode for much subsequent prospecting.