Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Gordon, Jay 1853 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 9, 2007, 10:29 pm

Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

JAY GORDON. A good representative of the younger element of citizenship in 
DuPage Township, is found in the person of Jay Gordon, who resides with his 
mother on section 16, and owns a half interest in one hundred and ninety acres 
of land in the township. He is meeting with success in the agricultural work 
to which he is giving his attention, as he formerly did in the field of 
pedagogy, in which he labored several winters. The ancestors of our subject 
are supposed to have been English, and his parents were born in the Empire 
State. David and Tryphena (Beebe) Gordon, removed to Will County, Ill., in 
1853, when he of whom we write was but a few weeks old. They located in the 
western part of DuPage Township, on section 19, on land that was somewhat 
improved, a few acres having been plowed, and in an old frame house they took 
up their abode, residing there about two years. Then they removed to the farm 
that is now occupied by the widow and son, and where the father died July 23, 
1880. The means possessed by David Gordon when he came to this section were 
limited, and he and his family endured some of the privations incidental to 
pioneer life, but all was borne uncomplainingly by the sturdy man and wife, 
who felt that the future held comfort for them and their offspring. Mr. Gordon 
was a citizen who could be relied on to bear a hand in whatever promised to 
advance the interests of the region, or aid those about him to greater ease 
and prosperity. He voted the Republican ticket. He was fairly successful in a 
worldly sense, leaving an estate of one hundred acres of unincumbered land as 
the result of his life's work. The widow of David Gordon and mother of our 
subject is now in her sixty-ninth year, and enjoys good health for one of that 
age. She has four sons, namely: Emory, who lives in Hamilton County, Iowa; 
Jay, our subject; Frank, residing in Hamilton County, Iowa; and Eugene, who 
was married February 22, 1882, to Miss Alvina Sears, of this township, and has 
three children, named, Nettie, David and George; he lives with his mother and 
brother Jay on the homestead. Mrs. Gordon is one of the oldest living pioneers 
of the township and is cherished by the older inhabitants, also having many 
friends among the younger people. Jay Gordon was born in Jefferson County, N. 
Y., May 8, 1853, but was reared in this county amid the scenes of pioneer 
life. He was educated in the public schools of the county, after which he 
attended the Northwestern College, at Naperville, DuPage County, for six 
months. Subsequently the young man engaged in teaching, acting as an 
instructor during thirteen fall and winter terms of school and during the 
summers devoting his attention mostly to farming. He is a Republican, and on 
the party ticket was elected Clerk of DuPage Township, in 1884, officiating a 
year. His character is a manly and upright one, his manners are pleasing, and 
he has many friends who look forward to seeing him occupy a yet more prominent 
place in the county as years roll by.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/gordon558gbs.txt

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