As we remember today the apostle James, we are left with mostly the legends of his life. (This isn't the man who wrote the book of James.) His Father was a fisherman (wealthy enough to hire help) and his mother came to Jesus in Matthew 20 to ask Jesus to put her sons in positions of authority. He may have been a little spoiled, maybe? James was also the first apostle to die (documented in Acts 12). Whatever his family background, he died for the faith he found in Jesus.