The Jordans of Ohio:Information about Richard Jordan
Richard Jordan (b. Bet. 1620 - 1624, d. Bef. May 1687)
Notes for Richard Jordan:
Since Richard Jordan (II) was most likely born around 1640 I can not see Richard Jordan (I) being born much later than 1621.
It is highly unlikely that Richard Jordan (I) was less than 16 when he witnessed the first recorded deed on 25 Mar 1639/40, meaning he had to be born on or before 1624.
I have seen several Pedigree charts, some over 20 (as of 2004) years old showing Thomas Jordan b. 1600-England (died c. 1646-Upper Norfolk Co., VA.) as the parent of this Richard.No one has, as of yet, shown the proof for this, or the proof has been lost.
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Below is from "Bob's Genealogy Filing CabinetII (2006)".An indepth research site from Robert W. Baird.
Copyright © 2001-2005Robert W. Baird, All Rights Reserved
http://www.genfiles.com/index.html
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1.Richard Jordan I(? - 1687)His origins are a mystery.Although there are at least four other Jordans in the general area where he first appears, there is no evidence linking him to any of them.He does not appear in the 1624/5 Jamestown musters, nor among the headrights in Virginia patents.[1]His first appearance is as a witness to a deed on 25 March 1639/40 in Isle of Wight County.[2]The Isle of Wight records are only partially preserved in this time period, and there are few references to him in the surviving records.Other than an incidental mention of him in 1650[3] the next record is his purchase of 50 acres on Cypress Creek (then called Pagan Bay Creek) in Isle of Wight on 21 December 1653.[4]The will of Christopher Reynolds, dated a few months later on 1 May 1654, devises to one of his sons a piece of land “on the southerly side of the freshet swamp that Richard Jordan now liveth upon.”[5]This land was surely near the land he had purchased, for the freshet swamp was a stream feeding Cypress Creek.
On 25 November 1657, Christopher Reynolds Jr., the son of the above Christopher Reynolds, received a patent for two separate parcels of 100 and 250 acres, which was entered into the patent book with the marginal note that it was “renewed in Richard Jordan’s name the 18 March 1662 to whom it is assigned by the said Reynolds.”[6]The assignment from Reynolds to Jordan actually took place in late 1657 or early 1658, for a later patent notes that Richard Jordan had sold the 100 acre portion back to Christopher Reynolds Jr. on 18 May 1658.[7]The remaining 250 acres was retained by Richard Jordan, and was apparently the land on which he lived for the next twenty years.
By 11 January 1661/2 a Richard Jordan Jr. begins to appear in the records, perhaps his son, and some subsequent records for Richard Jordan are as “Richard Jordan Senior”.[8]By 1673 that person had moved into Surry County, while Richard Jordan I remained in Isle of Wight, appearing several times as a juror, appraiser, and witness through 1679.He may have participated in Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, or at least was publicly sympathetic to Bacon’s cause.Following that rebellion, the King sent three commissioners to investigate its causes and assess the concerns of the colonists.Richard Jordan (as “Senior”) and six other residents of Isle of Wight signed a petition dated 5 March 1676/7 to these commissioners listing twenty-six “grievances” with their government.[9]Less than a monthlater, on 27 March, they recanted the petition and appeared in court on 9 April toapologize for “all the false and scandalous reflection upon Governor Sir William Berkeley, contained in a paper presented to the commissioners and promise never to be guilty again of the like mutinous and rebellious practices.”[10]
In 1679 he sold his lands in Isle of Wight County and sometime in 1680 or 1681 moved several miles west into Surry County, where his son Richard Jordan Jr. had settled several years earlier.On 30 March 1679 he and his wife Alice Jordan gave 100 acres to his son John Jordan, though how he acquired that land is unclear.[11]A few months later, on 10 May 1679, he received a patent renewing his old 250 acres and adding 113 acres of adjoining waste land.[12]Six months later, he sold that patent to Joseph Woory.[13]Woory later sued him over breach of contract, perhaps relating to this sale.[14]On 29 September 1679 he bought land in Surry County near his son Richard Jordan Jr., being separated from him by a single parcel.[15]In the same year, he apparently posted a bond in Isle of Wight for maintenance of his wife Alice.[16] Alice Jordan had released dower in the sale to Joseph Woory, and appears to have moved with Jordan in Surry County, so it’s not clear how to interpret this record.
From 1681 through 1686, Richard Jordan Sr. appears in the Surry County tithables.He died sometime after June 1686, when he last appears as a tithable, and 3 May 1687 when Richard Jordan Jr. was granted administration “on the estate of his dec’d father Rich. Jordan.”[17](Note that this was the first court meeting in more than two months, meaning he could have died somewhat earlier.)The inventory was recorded on 5 July 1687 by his son.[18]Richard Jordan’s wife Alice evidently outlived him by a matter of a few days or weeks.[19]At the same 3 May 1687 court, the nuncupative (oral) will of Alice Jordan was proved and Charles Savadge, the executor, relinquished his role.The court neither appointed a replacement, nor ordered an appraisal, a strong indication that the will disbursed no property.[20]In fact, the will itself was not recorded, suggesting that it perhaps dealt with burial wishes, personal clothing, or some other request unrelated to property.[21]
There is one additional tantalizing record which may possibly bear on the immigration of Richard Jordan.On 30 May 1679 a patent was issued to Nicholas Sessums, an adjoining landowner, for transportation of 11 persons, including “Rich. Jordane & wife” and a second “Richd. Jorden.”[22]This may refer to the original importation and, if so, suggests that Richard Jordan and his wife arrived in Virginia with his son already born.The importer would not have been Nicholas Sessums of course; he clearly had purchased the headrights from someone else, as he did for several other patents.[23]He may, in fact, have purchased the rights from Richard Jordan Sr. himself.The delay of perhaps 40 years in the use of the rights is not necessarily significant, for Sessums claimed his own headright more than 45 years after his arrival.[24]
Although there were probably one or more daughters, only two sons can be identified, Richard Jordan II and John Jordan.
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More About Richard Jordan and Alice:
Marriage: Bef. May 1654, Isle of Wight Co., VA..59
Children of Richard Jordan and Alice are:
- +John Jordan (I), b. Abt. 1658, Isle of Wight Co., VA., d. Bef. October 1687, Isle of Wight Co., VA..