Compiled by Teresa
Martin Klaiber 2023
Thomas
P. Jordan was born between May 1868 (1900 census) and Feb 1871 (d cert) in
Lawrence County, Kentucky. His tombstone
says he was born in 1870. He was the son
of Absalom and Julia Ann Coburn Jordan[i]. His maternal great grandparents were Micajah
and Eleanor Clay Brumfield[ii].
Thomas
married Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Arden, 25 September 1892 in Lawrence County,
Kentucky. The family settled near
Willard in Carter County, Kentucky. By
1910 they are listed at Maddox.
On
29 August 1925 the Jordan’s purchased a portion of the land now owned by the
compiler and her husband. The Jordan’s
purchased the tract of 26 + acres from John Allen and Eula Bolt Hazlett[iii]. This
portion of the land includes the original one room log home which was improved
and the compiler’s husband grew up in. You can read The Log Cabin
Heritage at Deliverance farm by clicking here.
Thomas
and Betty were residing on the property in 1930 along with their youngest daughter’s
Thelma and Dorothy. The Jordan’s took out a mortgage with the Federal Land Bank
in Louisville and on 28 September 1932, with a transfer of $1.00, their son
William Estill “E. W.” Jordan became the owner, taking over the loan. The deed
reserved the right of Thomas and Elizabeth to live on the premises during they
joint lives and the survivor “may” occupy the same until their death as
well. The road was called Poor House
Road during this time frame. The county changed the name to Long Branch Road at
a later date.
On
16 January 1940 Mary Elizabeth Arden Jordan died of a cerebral hemorrhage[iv].
“Betty” was the daughter of Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor Arden, both
born in Virginia. She was buried in
Klaiber Cemetery 18 January 1940. Their
son Hillman Bayes Jordan, (written about in a previous blog), was buried in
Klaiber Cemetery August 1931.
The
1940 census was taken in April after Betty’s death. Thomas is shown on Poor House Road along with
daughter Hermia and son-in-law Billy Fannin and children. Daughter Goldie and
husband John D Fannin live in the next residence, beside James M and Julina
(Sexton) Klaiber.
Eight
months after Mary Elizabeth Arden Jordan’s death, Thomas P. Jordan married Elma
DeVore Davidson 23 September 1940 in Greenup County, Kentucky[v].
He was 72 years old. Thomas Jordan made
another deed, with E. W. and wife Ethel Jordan, in Boyd County on 6 August 1941
stating that Elizabeth died intestate (without a will) and that T. P. Jordan
has now remarried, Elma (as spelled).
The
marriage with Elma was not without drama[vi]. An article appears in the Portsmouth Times on charges of Bigamy 5 Oct 1941, Greenup County: Mrs. Alma
(as spelled) Jordan 48 was arraigned today before Judge Jacob Fisher on a
charge of bigamy filed by her husband Thomas Jordan who claimed that he married
her in Greenup September 23, 1940 and that she was already married at the time.
The charge was dismissed by Judge Fisher on grounds of insufficient evidence.”
Thomas
and Alma/Elma seem to have resolved their differences. They were remarried in Lawrence County, Ohio
22 October 1946. The license states that
he resides at Ponds Run, Ohio and is divorced.
Elma age 56 as of 14 January was born in Bluefield, Wet Virginia,
daughter of James and Maxine Sayra Devour and is also divorced.[vii] Thomas is now 78 years old.
Estill
William Jordan, son of Thomas and Betty Jordan was an accountant for Pure Milk
Company, on Carter Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky.
On
November 25 1944 Estill William and his wife sold the 26+ acres to John Henry
and Elsie Ellis Rucker Klaiber[viii]. This was during a period when Klaiber was
purchasing the partitioned lands of his grandfather along Poor House Road. John
Henry was a great-great grandson of Micajah and Eleanor Clay Brumfield thus had
“family ties” to the Jordan’s. His
maternal uncle Jasper Newton Sexton had previously resided in the cabin.
The log home with
improvements 1940’s, Long Branch Road, Rush, KY
Thomas
P. Jordan and, the widow of his brother David Taylor Jordan, Anna Jordan were
living in Nile Township, Scioto County in 1950 along with Roy L. Jordan age 44,
single. Anna is widowed and Thomas P.
Jordan is marked as separated. The census margin reads “proceeding north from
US 52 on Main on Left fork of Pond Run.”
John
and Elsie remained on the farm, on Long Branch Road, living in the house, they
purchased from Jordan’s, with several remodels, during their lifetime. Elsie called the original portion that was
the one room log home her parlor, where she played hostess to guests. Their only son James David Klaiber grew to
adulthood on the farm.
Thomas
P. Jordan died in 11 July 1951 in General Hospital, Ironton, Lawrence County,
Ohio. The information for his death certificate was provided by daughter Goldie
Jordan Fannin. The certificate states
that his usual residence was Boyd County, Kentucky. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage
and was buried in Klaiber Cemetery in Boyd County, Kentucky on the 13th.[ix]
The
compiler always welcomes additional information to keep with the cemetery
records books.
[i]
Absolom and Juilia m 6 Jan 1860 Carter County, KY
[ii]
Micajah Brumfield and Eleanor Clay m 15 Feb 1802 in Tazewell Co., VA
[iii]
The Hazlett’s held title for five years
[iv]
KY Vital Death Cert 158 Elizabeth Arden Jordan
[v] KY
Grnp M bk 82 page 382 Thos gives his age as 69 she age 45, both reside at Rush,
KY
[vi]
Alma had married Boyd Adkins 28 Sep 1933 In Law Co OH as Elma Johnson
[vii]
OH Law M cert 31988 volume 45
[viii]
KY Boyd dbk 192-355
[ix]
Oh Vital, Ohio Historical Society, Certificate
44693, volume 13034
