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a.
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Note: [temp.FTW]
According to family tradition, Jesse was born in Williamsport, Washington County, MD, although his family seems to have generally lived in Baltimore County. His birth was not recorded in Baltimore, even though those of his earlier (Eugene Leo) and later (Mary Kate) siblings were.
Jesse had a number of different occupations in his lifetime. Family lore says that he ran away from home at age 12 and worked in a tin factory where he lost the tips of all the fingers of his left hand in an accident. But the 1900 census, taken when he was 17, has him living with his father, Richard, and lists his occupation as "day labor." Family lore also has it that he worked on a dredge, sometimes diving into cold water to free the dredge chains.
He held a "steam engineer's license" which he kept current well into his later years. The 1920 census lists his occupation as "labor organizer," and family oral history says that he worked for or with Samuel Gompers, but eventually became disillusioned. When he got older, he became a self-employed accountant and tax preparer and voted Republican. He was (Federal?) Tax Commissioner in Baltimore during the Hoover administration, apparently a political patronage job. He also owned income-producing real estate. He was naturally gregarious, had many friends, and belonged to a number of lodges and fraternal orders, including the AF&AM.
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