Georgia   Biographies	WILLIAM WASHINGTON GORDON
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by 
Barbara Winge barbarawinge@yahoo.com

http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm Georgia Table of Contents:

   GORDON COUNTY, GEORGIA

     Laid out from Floyd and Cass, in 1850.

     CALHOUN is the county town.

     Gordon County received its name from WILLIAM WASHINGTON GORDON, who was born in Richmond County, in 1796.  His father, Ambrose Gordon, was a native of Maryland, and served as Lieutenant of Cavalry under the command of Colonel William Washington, in the Revolutionary War, at the close of which he came to Georgia, and settled in Augusta.  At a very early age, he was left by his father under the care of his uncle, Ezekiel Gordon, then residing in New-Jersey.  After remaining at school in Rhode Island for several years, he entered the Academy at West Point, where he was graduated in 1815; and shortly afterwards was appointed aid to General Gaines.

     Believing that the legal profession afforded a better field for the exercise of his talents, he resigned his commission, removed to Savannah, and studied law with the Hon. James M. Wayne, now one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States.  He practiced his profession with great success until the early part of 1836, when he was elected President of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, the arduous duties of which he continued to discharge until March, 1842, when he died in the city of Savannah, from a disease produced by the exposure incidental to his office  The most prominent traits in Mr. Gordon’s character were honesty and firmness of purpose.  He, richly merited the inscription which the hand of friendship has placed upon his monument, now to be seen in the old cemetery at Savannah.
     
(W. W. Gordon was the ancestor of Juliett Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.)

Ref:  White, Rev. George, M. A., HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GEORGIA, 1854, Pudney & Russell, Publishers, New York, pp. 475-476.   (Reprinted 1968, Heritage Papers, Danielsville, GA)





Note:
Adiel Sherwood, A GAZETTEER OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, Washington City,
Printed by P. Force, 1837,  pp. 255-256.
APPENDIX:  BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
   "The author conceived that a short biographical sketch of the
individuals after whom the several counties were named, would furnish an
instructive and pleasing appendage to his topographical work...
   Acquainted with the intimate friends of some of the 'venerable dead,'
he has been furnished with sufficient materials to enlarge on their
character...
   There are in the State ninety counties (book printed in 1837, presently
in 2001, there are 159 counties)..."


========================
USGENWEB NOTICE:  In keeping with our policy of providing
free information on the Internet, data may be freely used
by non-commercial entities, as long as this message
remains on all copied material. These electronic pages
cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other
presentation. The submitter has given permission to the
USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for FREE
access. ==============