Elijah Jordan (1804 - abt. 1885)

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Biography

Elijah was born in 1804. He is the son of Robert Jordan and Elizabeth Church. He passed away in 1886. ^[1]

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Sources

• Nathan Ott, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Nathan and others.

1. ↑ Entered by Nathan Ott, Dec 30, 2011

Biography

Elijah was the youngest of the eight known sons of Robert Jordan, Sr. and Elizabeth Church of Halifax County, Virginia. Elijah married Martha Jane Faulkner in 1825, and they continued to make their home in Halifax County. Elijah seems to have been a prosperous farmer. There were at least eight children: Robert, John, Joseph, William, Clement, Lucy, Samuel, and Martha. All six of Elijah and Martha's sons saw service in the Confederate Army.

Robert E. Jordan, eldest son of Elijah and Martha, along with three of his brothers, served in the Black Walnut Dragoons (Company C) of the Third Virginia Cavalry Regiment. John M., Joseph E., and William I. Jordan were Robert’s brothers in the Black Walnut Dragoons. John M. Jordan was an officer and in command of the company for most of the final year of the war. He was wounded at Yellow Tavern. Joseph E. Jordan was wounded at Athens Station and was for a time a prisoner in Elmira (NY). William I. Jordan was wounded in the attack on Wilson’s Wharf (Fort Kennon). Elijah’s youngest sons, Clement and Samuel, both served in Company B (the Danville Grays), 18th Virginia Infantry Regiment. Clement was wounded at least twice during the war and Samuel was captured at Sayler’s Creek a few days before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Somehow, all six brothers survived the war. This fact is amazing considering their length of active service and the terrible death rates in the Confederate Army. For example, five sons of Henry Jordan, Jr. of Tennessee, cousins of the Halifax County Jordans, were old enough to for military service, and three died during the war. Two of the four adult sons of Dr. Clement Hobson Jordan, cousins from North Carolina, also died during the conflict. The Jordan boys of Halifax County, four of whom suffered war wounds, certainly lived up to the family motto Percussa Resurgo (When Struck Down I Rise Again).

In June 1864, Elijah, along with 641 other citizens from nearby communities, helped the 53rd Virginia Infantry successfully defend the Staunton River Bridge against attacks by superior Federal forces. Elijah was 60 years old at the time of this battle, and his name, along with the names of his five sons who were also buried at this place, is inscribed with those of other Confederate veterans on a memorial erected in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, South Boston, Virginia. Another son, Joseph, moved to North Carolina and was buried there following his death in 1909.

After the war, Elijah’s son Robert became a prominent banker. Along with his brother, William, he established the first bank to be located in South Boston, Virginia.

Elijah died in 1885, in the sixtieth year of his marriage to Martha. Martha died the following year.

(Sandy Jordan, May 2017 - based on research by my son Stuart Jordan))

Beneath the Black Walnut: A Jordan Genealogy by Stuart McGuire Jordan