Jacob Elias Cohen

Cohen was born to a Jewish family on April 1, 1862 in Dublin, Ireland, the youngest of eight children of Rae (née Heyman) and Elias Cohen.[1] His family was originally from Germany but soon returned to Berlin and opened a general merchandise store.[1] After the American Civil War, the family immigrated to New York City where they opened Cohen Brothers, a company dedicated to the import of dry goods (textiles, clothing, and sundries).[1] In 1867, two of his brothers, Morris and Samuel visited Jacksonville, Florida which was still recovering from the Civil War and recognized the pent-up demand for dry goods. In 1867, they moved the family business to Jacksonville which then had a mere 4,000 residents.[1] Cohen attended public schools in New York City and then joined his brothers (along with a third brother Julius ) in Jacksonville in 1875 which had grown to 7,000 residents.[1] In 1880, Jacob assumed control of the store after his brother Samuel moved to New York City to work as a purchasing agent and Morris moved to England where he became engaged in the lace business.[1] Jacob established a "one-price" policy with fixed price tags where there was no negotiating involved, an unusual practice at the time.[1] In 1890, the population increased to 17,000 and Cohen moved the business into the Gardner Building, Jacksonville's first skyscraper and Florida's tallest building.[1] In 1891, Julius died of typhoid fever.[1]

In 1901, Jacksonville burned to the ground and Cohen built a 300,000 square foot store on the site of the burned down St. James Hotel designed by Architect Henry John Klutho promising that the building would be "institution for the people."[2][3][4] Under Cohen's tutelage, Cohen Brothers became Florida's largest department store. In 1958, The May Department Stores Company acquired the Cohen Brothers Department Store turning it into the May Cohens chain.[5]

In 1887, Cohen married Hattie Halle; they had five children: Edna (1888); Halle (1893); Rae (1895); Hazel (1897); and Minna Cohen Seitner (1899).[1] Cohen died on June 1, 1927.[2][6]