James Gordon Canfield, a Representative from New Jersey; born in Salamanca, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., April 15, 1898; attended the public schools of Binghamton, N.Y.; served as a private in the Signal Corps, United States Army, in 1917 and 1918; reporter in Passaic, N.J., 1919-1923; studied law at New Jersey Law School in Newark; George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., LL.B., 1926; was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1927; served as secretary to Representative George N. Seger 1923-1940; elected as a Republican to the Seventy-seventh and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1941-January 3, 1961); served during the Congressional recess in 1944 as an ordinary seaman, North Atlantic tanker duty, United States Merchant Marine; was not a candidate for renomination in 1960 to the Eighty-seventh Congress; director, National Housing Conference, and First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Paterson; remained active in civic affairs until his death in Hawthorne, N.J., June 20, 1972; interment in Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa Borough, N.J. 

Congressman Canfield is considered the father of the Coast Guard Reserve. He introduced legislation to create the Coast Guard Reserve in 1941. To honor him, RTC Yorktown dedicated Canfield Hall in 1984. It was the first CG facility to be named after a member of Congress.  For many years, the Gordon Canfield trophy was awarded to the nation's best reserve unit.

Lodge: Equality 940 (N.Y.)
Residence: Paterson