Joshua I. Cohen was born into one of Baltimore’s preeminent Jewish families. He was the great-grandson of Judith Solomon Cohen, who had settled in the city in 1808, following the death of her husband, Israel, and whose children—including David, Mendes, and Joshua’s grandfather, Benjamin—whose children would be recognized for their accomplishments in business and finance as well as in Jewish and civic life of Baltimore.

Israel I. Cohen, Joshua’s father, ran a successful brokerage firm and was a founder of the second Baltimore Stock Exchange. In 1850, he married Cecilia Eliza Levy, and among their children, Joshua’s siblings, were Benjamin, Georgie, Eleanor Septima, and Anna Maria.

Pictured here at a year-or-so-old, Joshua is wearing a dress—a not uncommon traditional practice for young boys, who, it was said, were the preferred target of the evil eye.