View source for Samuel Jordan

{{Short description|Early settler, member of the Virginia Council, and Commissioner in the Virginia colony}}
{{For|the founder of the American College of Tehran|Samuel M. Jordan}}
{{ Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Samuel Jordan
| honorific-suffix =
| image = 
| caption =
| office = Member [[Virginia House of Burgesses]] for [[Charles City County, Virginia|Charles City County]]
| term_start = 1619
| term_end = 1619
| preceded = 
| succeeded =
| alongside =
| birth_date= 
| birth_place = [[England]]
| death_date= 1623
| death_place        = [[Jordan Point, Virginia|Jordan's Journey]], [[Charles City County, Virginia|Charles City County]], [[Colonial Virginia]]
| spouse             = [[Cecily Jordan Farrar|Cecily Jordan]]
| occupation         = [[Ancient Planter|Planter]], militia officer, politician
| restingplace =
| children = 
| residence = 
| alma_mater = 
<!-- Military service -->
| branch = [[James City County, Virginia]] [[militia]]
| serviceyears = About 1611 to 1622
| rank = Captain
| unit =
| commands =
| battles =  [[Anglo-Powhatan Wars#Second Anglo-Powhatan War|Second Anglo-Powhatan War]]
| awards =
}}

'''Samuel Jordan''' (died 1623) was an early settler and [[Ancient Planter]] of colonial [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]].  He arrived in Virginia around 1610, and served as a [[House of Burgesses|Burgess]] in the [[Virginia General Assembly|first representative legislative session]] in North America. Jordan patented a plantation which he called "Beggar's Bush", which later became known as [[Jordan Point, Virginia|Jordan's Journey]]. It became a safe haven and stronghold for settlers during the [[Anglo-Powhatan Wars#Second Anglo-Powhatan War|Second Anglo-Powhatan War]] that ensued after the [[Indian massacre of 1622|Powhatan surprise attack of 1622]].

==Early life and arrival in New World==
Samuel Jordan came to Virginia sometime around 1610,<ref name=Southall1943/> as his 1620 patent mentions him as having lived ten years in the colony.<ref name=Nugent1934Jordan/>

Samuel Jordan's early life is uncertain. [[Alexander Brown (author)|Alexander Brown]] suggests "he was probably married more than once".<ref name=Brown1890v2/> Some authors state that he had three sons from a first wife who were born in England: Robert, Samuel, and Thomas.<ref name = Winslow1931/><ref name = Cabell1918/> Though the genealogist John Dorman does not mention either Robert or Samuel, he does acknowledge the possibility that Thomas Jordan, who arrived in Virginia at age 18 aboard ''Diana'' in 1619, could be Samuel's son from an earlier marriage in England; however, he points out there is no conclusive evidence to establish this relation.<ref name=Dorman2004v2/>

==Role in Virginia government==
[[File:Armstrong's picture of the First Assembly in Jamestown 1619.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|[[Thomas Armstrong (painter)|Thomas Armstrong's]] illustration of the First Assembly in Virginia, which Samuel Jordan attended.]]
When Deputy-Governor [[George Yeardley]] called the first representative [[Virginia General Assembly|legislative assembly in Virginia]] in 1619, Jordan served as a [[House of Burgesses|Burgess]] on behalf of Charles City.<ref name=Kingsbury1933v3/>{{rp|154}} During this first meeting, Jordan also served on the committee of readers for the [[London Company#The “Great Charter“|Great Charter]], which been recently received from the [[London Company|Virginia Company]] and had authorized the assembly.<ref name=Kingsbury1933v3/>{{rp|159}}  As a privilege granted by the Great Charter, Jordan also became an [[ancient planter]],<ref name=Nugent1934Jordan/> which entitled him to 100 acres of land.

==Marriage to Cecily==
Sometime before 1620, Jordan married [[Cecily Jordan Farrar|Cecily]],<ref name=Nugent1934Jordan/> who had arrived in Virginia around 1611<ref name= Southall1942/> and was around 18 when they married. {{notetag| Based on Jamestown muster of 1625, which gives Cecily's age as 24 at the time.<ref name= Hotten1874Muster/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/224 210]}}}} By 1621, their first daughter Mary had been born,<ref name= Hotten1874Muster/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/224 210]}} and when Jordan died in 1623, Cecily was pregnant with her second daughter, Margaret.<ref name= Miller2016 />

[[File:SamJordanSignVA07.jpg|thumb|Virginia Historical Highway Marker of Jordan's Journey]]
In 1620, Samuel Jordan officially received his patent for 450 acres of land. {{notetag|The patent was not entered into the record until 1690 when [[Richard Bland (burgess)|Richard Bland]] had acquired the property.<ref name= Nugent1934Jordan/>}}  This patent included 200 acres for both his and Cecily's claim as ancient planters, as well as an additional 250 acres as [[headright]] for paying the transportation costs to Virginia for five [[Indentured Servitude#The Americas|indentured servants]].<ref name=Nugent1934Jordan/>  Jordan's patent, located at today's [[Jordan Point, Virginia]], was originally known as [[Jordan Point, Virginia#Beggars Bush|Beggars Bush]]<ref name=Brown1890v2/> and later as Jordan's Journey.<ref name= Hatch1957/>

When the [[paramount chief]] [[Opechancanough]] of the [[Powhatan Confederacy]] launched the [[Indian massacre of 1622|surprise attack of 1622]] that killed nearly a third of the English colonists and triggered the [[Anglo-Powhatan Wars#Second Anglo-Powhatan War|Second Anglo-Powhatan War]], nobody from Jordan's Journey was listed as killed.<ref name=Kingsbury1933v3/>{{rp|556}}  Jordan's Journey withstood the attack and became a fortified refuge.<ref name=Smith1624/>  After the initial assault, many of the outlying settlements were temporarily abandoned, and most of the colonists were ordered to move to a small number of relatively safer settlements, one of which was Jordan's Journey.<ref name=Kingsbury1933v3/>{{rp|612}} As a result, Jordan's Journey grew. In February 1624, 42 people were living at Jordan's Journey;<ref name= Hotten1874Living&Dead/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/182 171]}} a year later, 56 people were living there.<ref name= Hotten1874Muster/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/222 209–213]}}

==Death and legacy==
{{See also|Cecily Jordan v. Greville Pooley dispute}}

Samuel Jordan died sometime before mid-February 1623,{{notetag|Archaeologists who excavated Jordan's Journey have speculated that one of the more elaborate graves adjacent to the main residence containing the remains of a man between 35 and 39 may be Samuel Jordan's. If this is the case, Jordan was most likely born c. 1584-1588.<ref name=McLearenEtAl1993/>{{rp|51–53,63–64}} }} as his name does not appear among living at Jordan's Journey in a list submitted to the Virginia Company that month.<ref name=Hotten1874Living&Dead/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/182 171]}}

Soon after his burial, his widow [[Cecily Jordan Farrar|Cecily Jordan]] became involved in the [[Cecily Jordan v. Greville Pooley dispute|first breach-of-promise dispute in North America]]. The lawsuit was filed by Rev. Greville Pooley, who had proposed marriage to the widow three days after the funeral.<ref name=Brown1890v2/><ref name=Stanard1928/>  Cecily Jordan ultimately won the case, then in 1625 married [[William Farrar (settler)|William Farrar]], who was bonded to execute Samuel Jordan's will.<ref name=McIlwaine1924/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/minutesofcouncil00virg/page/42 42]}}<ref name=Dorman2004v1/>  Rev. Pooley took the case to the [[Virginia Governor's Council|Virginia Council]], claiming his proposal had initially been accepted but in 1625 formally forswore any claim against her.<ref name=Kingsbury1935v4/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/recordsofvirgini04virg/page/218 218]}}<ref name=McIlwaine1924/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/minutesofcouncil00virg/page/42 42]}} The outcome of this dispute not only determined who would marry Cecily, but also who would ultimately have say over the management of Jordan's property.<ref name=Bruce1907/> Even though William Farrar had married Cecily, the lists of patents sent back to England still listed Jordan's Journey as owned by the Jordan family.<ref name=Kingsbury1935v4/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/recordsofvirgini04virg/page/n591 554]}}  Farrar eventually acquired his own rights to a 2000-acre patent on [[Farrar's Island]] at the site of what had previously been [[Henricus]].<ref name=Nugent1934Farrar/>  Historian [[Martha W. McCartney|Martha McCartney]] suggests Jordan's Journey may have remained with one or both of Jordan's daughters,<ref name=McCartney2011/> but their fates are not recorded.

==Notes==
{{notefoot}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Brown1890v2>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/genesisofuniteds02brow|title=The Genesis of the United States, Vol 2|last=Brown|first=Alexander|date=1890|publisher=Boston, MA Houghton, Mifflin|volume=II|page=[https://archive.org/details/genesisofuniteds02brow/page/933 933]|author-link=Alexander Brown (author)}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Bruce1907>{{cite book|author=Bruce, Philip Alexander|author-link=Philip Alexander Bruce|title=Social life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century: An Inquiry Into the Origin of the Higher Planting Class, Together with an Account of the Habits, Customs, and Diversions of the People|publisher=Richmond, VA: Whittet & Shepperson|year=1907|url=https://archive.org/details/sociallifeofvirg00bruce|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sociallifeofvirg00bruce/page/225 225]-226}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name= Cabell1918>{{cite journal |author= Cabell, James B.|year=1918|title=The Hunnicutts of Prince George|journal=William and Mary Quarterly|volume=50|issue=1|pages=121–122|doi=10.2307/1915246 |jstor=1915246}} {{limited access}} {{registration required}}</ref>

<ref name=Dorman2004v1 >{{cite book | editor-last=Dorman, John Frederick | title=Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607–1624/5: Families A-F (Volume 1)| year=2004| publication-date=2004 | publisher=Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing | edition= 4th.|pages=926–928|isbn=978-0806317441}}</ref>

<ref name=Dorman2004v2>{{cite book | editor-last=Dorman, John Frederick | title=Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607–1624/5: Families G-P (Volume 2)| date=2004 | publisher=Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing | edition= 4th.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcM40zgdAZgC&dq=Samuel+Jordan+dorman&pg=PA363|pages=363–364|isbn=978-0806317632}}</ref>

<ref name= Hatch1957>{{ Cite book |author= Hatch, Charles E.|year=1957|title=The First Seventeen Years: Virginia, 1607-1624|publisher=Williamsburg, VA: Jamestown 350th Anniversary Celebration Corp.|page=68|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30780/30780-h/30780-h.htm#JORDAN_R}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Hotten1874Muster>{{cite book |author=Hotten, John Camden |date=1874|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/212|title=The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children stolen; Maidens Pressed; and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 : With Their Ages and the Names of the Ships in Which they Embarked, and other Interesting Particulars; from Mss. Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England |publisher=New York, NY: Empire State Book|chapter=Musters of the Inhabitants in Virginia 1624/25| pages=119–265|author-link=John Camden Hotten}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Hotten1874Living&Dead>{{cite book |author=Hotten, John Camden |date=1874|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/originallistsofp00hottuoft/page/178|title=The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children stolen; Maidens Pressed; and Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 : With Their Ages and the Names of the Ships in Which they Embarked, and other Interesting Particulars; from Mss. Preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England |publisher=New York, NY: Empire State Book|chapter=Lists of the Living and Dead in Virginia, February 16, 1623| pages=167–196|author-link=John Camden Hotten}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Kingsbury1933v3>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/recordsofvirgini03virg/page/n7|title=Records of the Virginia Company of London|volume=3|editor=Kingsbury, Susan Myra|editor-link=Susan Myra Kingsbury|publisher=Washington, DC: Government Printing Office|date=1933|page= [https://archive.org/details/recordsofvirgini03virg/page/154 154]}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Kingsbury1935v4>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/recordsofvirgini04virg/page/n7|title=The Records of the Virginia Company of London|date=1935|publisher=Washington, DC: Government Printing Office|editor=Kingsbury, Susan M.|editor-link=Susan Myra Kingsbury|volume=4}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=McCartney2011>{{cite book|title=Jordan's Point, Virginia: Archaeology in Perspective, Prehistoric to Modern Times|last=McCartney|first=Martha W.|date=December 2011|isbn=9780615455402}}</ref>

<ref name=McIlwaine1924>{{cite book |editor=McIlwaine, H. R. |editor-link=Henry Read McIlwaine|date=1924|title=Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia 1622-1632, 1670-1676 with Notes and Excerpts from Original Council and General Court Records into 1683, Now Lost|publisher=Richmond, VA: Virginia State Library|url=https://archive.org/details/minutesofcouncil00virg}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name= Miller2016>{{cite book |author=Miller, Brandon Marie |year=2016 |chapter= In This New Discovered Virginia: Cecily Jordan Farrar, “Ancient Planter” of Virginia| title=Women of Colonial America: 13 Stories of Courage and Survival in the New World|publisher= Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press|pages=36–42|isbn=9781556525391|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D95ZCwAAQBAJ&q=Cecily+Jordan}}</ref>

<ref name=McLearenEtAl1993>{{cite book|author1=McLearen, Douglas C. |author2=Mouer, L. Daniel|author3=Boyd, Donna M.|author4= Owsley, Douglas W.|author5= Compton, Bertita|year=1993|title=Jordan's Journey: A Preliminary Report on the 1992 Excavations at Archaeological Sites 44PG302, 44PG303, and 44PG315|publisher= Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University Archaeological Research Center|doi=10.6067/XCV81J98NK|url=https://core.tdar.org/document/6083/jordans-journey-a-preliminary-report-on-the-1992-excavations-at-archaeological-sites-44pg302-44pg303-and-44pg315}} {{free access}} {{registration required}}</ref>

<ref name=Nugent1934Jordan>{{cite book |author=Nugent, Nell Marion|date=1934|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cavalierspioneer00nuge/page/226|title=Cavaliers and Pioneers, a Calendar of Land Grants 1623-1800|volume=1|publisher=Richmond, VA: Dietz Press|chapter=Patent Book No. 2|page=226}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Nugent1934Farrar>{{cite book|author=Nugent, Nell Marion|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cavalierspioneer00nuge/page/60|title=Cavaliers and Pioneers, a Calendar of Land Grants 1623-1800|volume=1|date=1934|chapter=Patent Book No. 1|publisher=Richmond, VA: Dietz Press|page=60}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Smith1624>{{cite book|url=http://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-082.pdf|title=The Generall Historie of Virginia, the Fourth Booke|last=Smith|first=John|date=1624|page=370|publisher=Madison, WI: Madison Historical Digital Library and Archives, AJ-082|author-link=John Smith (explorer)|archive-date=2004-11-02|access-date=2019-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041102052549/http://americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-082.pdf|url-status=dead}} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name= Southall1942>{{cite journal |author= Southall, James P. C.|year=1942|title=Cicely Jordan Farrar and Temperance Baley|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|volume=50|issue=1|pages=74–80|jstor=4245145}} {{limited access}} {{registration required}}</ref>

<ref name= Southall1943>{{cite journal |author= Southall, James P. C.|year=1943|title=Links in a Chain|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|volume=51|issue=4|page=383|jstor=4245260}} {{limited access}} {{registration required}}</ref>

<ref name =Stanard1928>{{cite book|title=Story of Virginia's First Century|author=Stanard, Mary Newton|author-link=Mary Newton Stanard|date=1928|publisher=Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofvirginias00stan/page/180|pages=[https://archive.org/details/storyofvirginias00stan/page/180 180-181] }} {{free access}}</ref>

<ref name=Winslow1931>{{cite book|author=Winslow, Ellen G. R.|year=1931|title=History of Perquimans County As Compiled from Records Found There and Elsewhere|url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/text/13772|publisher= Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton|page=367}} {{free access}}</ref>
}}

{{Jamestown Colony}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Samuel}}
[[Category:1623 deaths]]
[[Category:People from colonial Virginia]]
[[Category:House of Burgesses members]]
[[Category:People from Charles City County, Virginia]]