James Burriss was the son of Joshua Burriss and Sarah Chamblee.

In "History of the Saluda Baptist Association," Reverend James Burriss states that his father Joshua Burriss was descended from the English Boroughs family and that he descended thru the Burrisses from eleven (11) other English ancestral lines.

Another early biography states that Joshua Burriss came from "Scotch-Irish stock."