 James Augustus Suydam was born on March 27, 1819 and was descended from an old New York Dutch merchant family.His parents were Jane (née Mesier) Suydam and John Suydam, who was considered "one of the old Knickerbocker merchants" and was head of Suydam & Wycoff, along with his brothers Henry P. M. Suydam and D. Lydig Suydam.. His brother, John Richard Suydam, was the father of Jane Mesier Suydam, who married cousin Walter Lispenard Suydam.He graduated from New York University (then the University of the City of New York), and began his career as a businessman but turned a significant portion of his energies to painting, studying under famed artist and portrait painter  Minor C. Kellogg.