My Genealogy Hound

DAVID J. JORDAN (deceased), was born in Warren Co., Ohio, in 1804. Was married, in 1824, in Lebanon, Ohio, to Julia A. Cady, and immediately thereafter removed to Piqua, having previously selected this as a place of residence. After a time, he purchased property on Main street, where he lived for a while, when the house he had occupied was torn down, and in its place two brick stores were erected, which are still standing. One of these he proceeded to occupy as a dry-goods store, doing business first on his own account, and subsequently under the firm names of Jordan & Kitchen and Jordan & Sons, and in connection therewith, he also, for several years, engaged in the winter seasons in packing pork, to a considerable extent for those times. He was also a large operator in the purchase and sale of real estate, both in town and in the country thereabouts, and at one time was probably the most extensive holder of this kind of property in this section of the country. He was a man of great energy and perseverance, and everything he engaged in was undertaken and carried out earnestly, and with enthusiasm. He was zealous in the promotion of all public improvements in town and country; in fact, active in every enterprise, having a tendency in any way to promote the public good, and for the attainment of which was a liberal contributor of time and money. His extensive acquaintance with the pioneers of Methodism, in this portion of the West, and his early attachments thereto, made his house, for many years, a hospitable retreat and home for the members of this denomination, and many of the far-famed preachers of this church then living, found a frequent and hearty welcome under the shelter of his roof. Mr. Jordan, during his later years, engaged in business operations outside of Piqua, in pork-packing in several towns on the Mississippi River, principally at Keokuk, Iowa, and in the building of railroads in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Mrs. Jordan, dying in 1859, and the family already having become scattered, he gave up Piqua as a place of residence, finding business attractions elsewhere—in Chicago and Rock Island, Ill.—until finally, believing that Kansas City, Mo., would, at no distant day, be a great business center, he settled there, going into the business of beef and pork packing, and there remained until the time of his death, Dec. 15, 1869. The surviving members of the family are Collins H. Jordan, formerly a merchant in Piqua, but for the last twenty-five years, a resident of Chicago, Ill.; John W. Jordan, also, at one time in the mercantile business in Piqua, during the late war, a Lieutenant Colonel of volunteers, and now representing the Travelers’ Insurance Company, of Hartford, Conn., as traveling agent in the Southern States; Maj. William H. Jordan, a graduate of West Point, an officer in the regular army, and now stationed at Chicago, in the recruiting service; David C. Jordan, a farmer in California; Edwin S. Jordan, doing business in Chicago; Julia A. and Ella M. Jordan, also residing there, and Charles P. Jordan, chief clerk in the employ of the Government, and Postmaster at Rosebud Agency, Dakota Territory. In addition to the above, there were two children, who died in infancy— Reeves McLean Jordan, who died at the age of 17, and Everard C. Jordan, during the war Captain in 11th O. V. I., afterward a Custom House Officer at San Francisco, and later, at St. George’s Island, in Alaska; but who finally died in 1872, at Los Angeles, Cal., from the effects of a wound he received during the war, at the battle of South Mountain, in Maryland.