James Emmett was military officer who served the State of North Carolina during the American Revolution. He was a captain in the 3rd North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Line from 1776 to 1778, when he was promoted to major. In 1780 he became a major in the Cumberland County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia and was promoted to colonel of the same unit in 1781. In August 1781 he was captured by the enemy at the Cumberland County Court House, but was paroled. After the war, he served as a sheriff in Fayette County (now Cumberland). He died in Cumberland County, North Carolina in about July 1787.