James William Jesse, M. D., has for a number of years been one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Santa Rosa. He entered the profession with a broad and thorough equipment, obtained by some years of preparation in one of the best schools in the United States. His devotion to his work and his skill in its practice, combined with his genial nature and sympathy, early gained him a representative clientage, and he has progressed into high favor as a practitioner. He has also been interested in affairs of a more general nature, and is always interested and willing to bear his part in enterprises pertaining to the general welfare of his town and county.
Dr. Jesse was born in Mexico, Missouri, in 1857. His father, Royal A. Jesse, is a Baptist minister, and his mother was Mary E. Boswell, a native of Virginia. James W. Jesse was educated in Columbia College at Mexico, Missouri, and after a full course in the literary departments there he entered the medical department of the College of the City of New York, from which he received his degree of M. D.
Dr. Jesse has been a resident and a practitioner of Santa Rosa since 1890. He served as mayor of the city for one term, and at the present time is city health officer and county physician. He is surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the California and Northwestern Railroad, and also surgeon for the Red Cross Sanitarium. He is president of the Santa Rosa Medical Society. He has a handsome residence on the corner of Fifth and King streets, and also owns the building in which his offices are located. He affiliates with the Masons and the Elks, and has always taken a prominent part in political affairs of the city, county and state.
Dr. Jesse married Miss Mary E. Higgins, of the state of Missouri. Marie Fitzpatrick Jesse, their daughter, is now twenty years of age, and is a student at Mills College, California. The family are held in the highest esteem in social circles, and are prominently identified with much of the life of the city.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.