Biography of James William Jesse, M. D. of Santa Rosa
James William Jesse, M.D., born in Mexico, Missouri, in 1857, was a leading physician and surgeon in Santa Rosa, California. Educated at Columbia College in Missouri and the College of the City of New York, he earned his M.D. and began practicing in Santa Rosa in 1890. Dr. Jesse served as mayor, city health officer, and county physician, and was a surgeon for major railroads and the Red Cross Sanitarium. He was president of the Santa Rosa Medical Society and active in Masonic and Elk fraternities. Dr. Jesse married Mary E. Higgins, and their daughter, Marie, studied at Mills College.