Jordan

The apprenticeship of Patsy and Treasy Whitaker (1895).

On 15 July 1895, Clerk of Superior Court J.D. Bardin apprenticed Patsy Whitaker, 11, and Treasy Whitaker, 5 1/2, to Alford Jordan until they were 18 years old. 

Alford Jordan was a black man, and the four of his neighbors — Nathan, Hardy, Perry, and Shade Bass — were called upon to vouch for his character: “Alfred Jordan has been living in our neighborhood Several years. He has a family of children and we never have heard of his cruelly treating them. Some of his children are grown and we never have heard any charges brought against them. Since Alfred moved into our neighborhood he has conducted himself fairly well so far as we know.”

In the 1900 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Alfred Jordan, 56; wife Cherry, 50; children  Sallie, 14, Jannie, 12, George and Mary, 9; and Albert, 8; stepchildren [sic] William, 26, Frances, 20, Patsy, 17, and Creasy Farmer, 10; and brother [actually, son] Benjamin Jordan, 35.

When Dr. T.L. Brooks reported vaccinations in the Black Creek area in 1902, he listed Patsy Whitaker and Cresy Whitaker.

On 2 December 1908, E.F. Hooker, 19, of Wayne County, and Patsy Whitaker, 21, of Black Creek township, applied for a Wilson County marriage license. 

In the 1910 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: widow Cherry Jordan, 60; children Rosetta, 22, Trecie, 20, Mary and George, 19, and Albert Jordan, 17; and grandchildren Lizina, 4, and Adlina Jordan, 3 months. 

Emerson F. and Patsy Hooker eventually migrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Patsy Whitaker Hooker died in 1945. Per her Social Security application, she was born in February 1888 in Wilson County, N.C., to Jacob Whitaker and Viney Jordan.

These records reminds us that we cannot take census entries at face value. Patsy and Creasy Farmer are certainly Patsy and Treasy Whitaker, but (1) their surnames are inconsistent; (2) Treasy’s name is altered; (3) Patsy’s age is slightly off; and (3) they are described as Jordan’s stepchildren (and Treasy as Cherry Jordan’s child.)

Alford Jorden and Cherry Ellis married in August 1884, when he was 40 and she was 35. Given norms of the time, it stands to reason that both had prior marriages. (Per his death certificate, Benjamin Jordan — described as “brother” in the 1900 census — was actually Alford’s son.) The four Jordan children listed in the 1900 census were born after the marriage and presumably were Alford and Cherry’s together. Patsy could have been, but Treasy was too young to have been brought into Cherry’s marriage.

It appears that the Whitaker girls were close kin on their mother’s side to Alford Jordan. Their apprenticeship served essentially as an informal adoption into Alford Jordan’s family. 

Apprentice 1895, Miscellaneous Records, Wilson County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

The death of Benjamin F. Jordan Jr., college student.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 13 March 1937.

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In the 1920 census of Mullins township, Marion County, South Carolina: on Laurel Street, clergymen Benjamin F. Jordan, 40; wife Maggie, 32; and children Benjamin F., Jr., 6; Marion, 4, Milford, 2, and Odis, 1.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 East Nash Street, minister Benjiman Jordan, 50; wife Maggie, 44; and children Benjiman F., 16, Mary B., 14,  Milford L., 12, Odis, 11, Williard, 10, Irene C., 8, and James D., 6.

Benjamin F. Jordan Jr. died 15 February 1937 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 23 years old; was born in Robeson County, N.C., to Benjamin F. Jordan Sr. of Beaufort, N.C., and Maggie L. Dickens of Edgecombe County, N.C.; was a student; and lived at 1113 East Nash Street, Wilson.

Certificate No. 6919, Lincoln Benefit Society.

Lincoln Benefit Society of Wilson, N.C., established by Dr. Frank S. Hargrave and Samuel H. Vick, issued burial policies across eastern North Carolina.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 June 1912.

The documents below relate to a policy Lincoln Benefit Society issued in December 1912 to George E. Elliott, a resident of Manchester, Cumberland County, North Carolina. (There were two George E. Elliotts, father and son, and it is not clear which carried the policy.)

Elliott paid thirty cents a month on his policy.

I have not been able to identify J.J. Jordan, who issued Elliott’s initial fee receipt, or his collector H.K. Johnson.

Special thanks to J. Robert Boykin III for sharing these documents.

 

The apprenticeship of Ashley Jordan (1870).

On 22 January 1870, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered Ashley Jordan bound as an apprentice to Jacob H. Barnes until he reached 21 years of age. At the end of his term, Jordan was to receive “six dollars in cash, a new suit of clothes and a new Bible.”

  • Ashley Jordan — Jordan is not listed in the household of Jacob H. Barnes in the 1870 census, and I have found no further information about him.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

Ministers Alliance expresses regrets.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 August 1932.

Benjamin F. Jordan of First Missionary Baptist Church submitted to the paper a tribute to tobacconist R.P. Watson on behalf of the Negro Ministerial Alliance of Wilson. Watson had been a benefactor of Mercy Hospital.

Clipping courtesy of J. Robert Boykin III.

Studio shots, no. 54: Rev. Benjamin F. Jordan.

This portrait of Rev. Benjamin F. Jordan hangs in a ground-level hallway at Jackson Chapel First Baptist Church in Wilson.

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In the 1880 census of Richland, Beaufort County, North Carolina: day laborer Phillip Jordon, 38; wife Elizabeth, 30; and children David F., 10, Solomon, 6, Judy Ann, 4, and Benjamin F., 1.

In the 1900 census of Idalia township, Beaufort County: farmer Phillip Jordan, 56; wife Elizabeth, 49; son Solomon, 26, daughter-in-law Carseary, 21; their child Perline, 1; daughter Julia A., 23; and son Ben F., 21.

In the 1910 census of Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina: Benjamin F. Jordan, 30, minister, was a boarder in the household of John H. and Margret Kinnear.

On 26 October 1910, B.F. Jordan, 32, married Maggie E. Dickins, 24, in Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County, North Carolina.

In 1918, Benjamin Franklin Jordan registered for the World War I draft in Bladen County, North Carolina. Per his registration card, he was born 21 April 1879; was married to Maggie E. Jordan; and worked in the ministry.

In the 1920 census of Mullins township, Marion County, South Carolina: on Laurel Street, clergymen Benjamin F. Jordan, 40; wife Maggie, 32; and children Benjamin F., Jr., 6; Marion, 4, Milford, 2, and Odis, 1.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 East Nash Street, minister Benjiman Jordan, 50; wife Maggie, 44; and children Benjiman F., 16, Mary B., 14,  Milford L., 12, Odis, 11, Williard, 10, Irene C., 8, and James D., 6.

Benjamin Franklin Jordan died 8 December 1955 at 717 East Green Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 75 years old; was a minister; was born in North Carolina to Phillip Jordan and Elizabeth (last name unknown). Informant was Marion J Maultrie, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1113 East Nash Street.

The thirty-eighth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

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As described in the nomination form for East Wilson Historic District: “1927; 2 stories. Parsonage, Jackson Chapel Baptist Church; cubic, hip-roofed, is blend of Colonial Revival and bungalow traits, typical of a host of middle-class dwellings in district built during 1920s.”

In the 1930 Wilson city directory: Jordan Benj F Rev (c) (Maggie L) pastor First Bapt Ch h 1113 E Nash.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 East Nash Street, minister Benjiman Jorden, 50; wife Maggie, 44; and children Benjiman F., 16, Mary B., 14, Milford L., 12, Odis, 11, Willard, 10, Irene C., 8, and James D., 6.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 East Nash Street, renting for $20/month, W.P.A. project laborer Oscar Ellis, 50; wife Mamie, 48; children Henry, 23, laborer, Estell, 22, housekeeper, Aja, 21, waiter, Charles, 20, deliveryman for Moore’s Drug, James, 18, Bessie, 17, Herbert, 15, Leroy, 13, Fred, 8, Mamie, 10, and Clarence, 5; and adopted children Annie, 15, and Rosco Jones, 13.

Photograph by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2017.