Major James N. Stubbs (James New Stubbs) attended William & Mary (1858-1860), was a member of its Board of Visitors (1888-1919, Vice-President 1890-1906, Vice-Rector 1906-1919), was trained as a lawyer, served as a major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was a member of the General Assembly from 1869 until his death. He hailed from Wood's X Roads, Gloucester County, Virginia. He died on April 10, 1919. His death was noted on the front page of the April 16, 1919 issue of the student newspaper, The Flat Hat.
Stubbs apparently opposed the College of Women and Mary going coed in 1918. He offered a resolution at the June 25, 1918, meeting of the Board of Visitors "to the effect that the Strode Bill was in direct opposition to the 1906 contract by which the Commonwealth of Virginia had taken full responsibility for the College of William & Mary and that therefore the College should refuse to accept women." The Strode Bill was the legislation providing for the admission of women at William & Mary.