Jacob I. Cohen Jr.

Jacob I. Cohen Jr. (born September 30, 1789, in Richmond, Virginia; died April 6, 1869, in Baltimore, Maryland)[1] was an American banker, railroad executive, and civic leader in Baltimore who helped win the right for Jews to hold public office in Maryland.

The 1912 History of the Jews in America says his father was "Jacob J. Cohen", who emigrated from Rhenish Prussia to the American colonies in 1773, fought in the Revolutionary War, and died in 1808.

[1] The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia says that the Jacob J. Cohen was the older brother of Israel, who followed him from Oberdorf, near Nördlingen, Bavaria, to Richmond in 1787.

Brothers Philip J. Cohen and Mendes I. Cohen (1796–1879) were in charge of their Norfolk office, where they were arrested on charges of selling National Lottery tickets (for the District of Columbia) in Virginia after the state had passed a law against sale of such out-of-state lottery tickets.

[5] In 1820, Cohen became the first homeowner in Baltimore to use natural gas to light his private residence, which was on North Charles Street.

[3] After the bill was passed, Cohen and Etting both ran successfully for Baltimore City Council in 1826, becoming the first Jews to hold elected office in Maryland.