JAMES EDWARD NAVIN was born on January 12, 1874 to John and Sarah Navin. When he census was taken in 1880, he was the oldest of three Navin children, the younger siblings being sister Frances and baby brother William. The family then lived at 445 Morris Street in Camden. Morris Street was renamed Washington Street in 1882. Sadly, William Navin died young.

James E. Navin was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on November 23, 1899. When the 1900 Census was taken, he was still living with his parents at 445 Washington Street. John Navin passed on December 6, 1901. When the 1906 City Directory was compiled, James Navin was living at 812 Haddon Avenue. The 1910 Census states that he had been married and was a widower. When the census was enumerated, James Navin was boarding at 423 Benson Street, the home of a widow, Julia Williams. The 1914 City Directory places him at 428 Stevens Street.

James Navin took part in the extinguishing of many fires in Camden. One such incident happened when around 5:30 P.M. on April 4, 1912, the Philadelphia Steel and Wire Company at Delaware Avenue and Pearl Street, North Camden, was badly damaged in a serious blaze. Falling electrical wires and several explosions endangered firemen as they struggled to contain the fire. At the height of the blaze, the David Baird Spar Yards and the Munger and Bennett Lumber Mill were threatened by radiant heat and flying embers. These adjacent facilities would have produced a conflagration of unimaginable propor­tions were it not for the strong defensive position taken by Camden's Bravest that saved millions of board feet of lumber from the wrath of the flames. While responding to the blaze, Engine Company 7 skidded in the trolley tracks and struck the pavement, tearing off a wheel and toppling the apparatus on its side. The chauffeur, Fireman Edwin Simpkins was thrown from his seat and injured. Engineer of Steamer, Fireman James Navin, while stoking the boiler escaped serious injury by jumping clear of the apparatus just before impact.

James Navin remarried during the 1910s. He was living with his wife, Emma T. Navin, at 527 Mickle Street when he registered for the draft in September of 1918. This would remain his address for the balance of his days. He was still serving with the Camden Fire Department as late as 1931.

James Edward Navin retired on pension in the early 1930s. He passed away on January 15, 1935 after undergoing an operation for a stomach ailment, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.