William Thomas Jordan

Citations

1. [S193] Melinda Bronsdon, "RE: Lucy Jane Palmer," e-mail message from e-mail address to Patricia Dunford, 14 Nov 2003, My mother was Frances Mayes Jordan Rahskopf, daughter of Mary Bertha Maddock Jordan and William Thomas Jordan. My grandmother Mary Bertha (b. 30 Mar 1869, m. 26 June 1888; d. 1945), was called Bertha in childhood and went by the nickname Birdie by her late teens but she is listed in the family bible as Mary Bertha. I have family letters and letters from her childhood friends when they were in college in McMinnville, Oregon.
   
   W T or Willie Jordan, was the 5th child (of 13 children) of Francis Marion Jordan of North Carolina. FM was a well-known Southern Baptist evangelist. Willie went to Wake Forest College, became a Baptist minister and came west on an immigrant train to Oregon where he became preacher at the Baptist Church in McMinnville. Birdie was the organist there, they met, and the rest is history. I have love letters from Willie to Birdie, also letters from Lucy to Birdie and love letters from Frank to Lucy while he was working in the copper mines in the Siskiyou Mtns in N. California. Lucy Palmer Maddock was a widow by the time Birdie went to college in McMinnville and moved there to keep house for her children in college. Lucy had a stroke in the 1890s and had to learn to write with her left hand. Her last letter to Birdie about 190? is very scratchy. After the stroke Lucy lived with Louis, then with John. She also lived at some point with a housekeeper at a ranch at Maryhill.
   
   The son Frank, Jr., son of Lucy and Frank, died young in 1888. I think the last will you sent is for him. FrankSr., already dead. The witness W.F. Jordan is my grandfather.
   
   There are a number of small errors in the material you sent me. The "W.F. "Jordan who signed as witness to the Frank Maddock will should be "WT " for William Thomas.
   We always knew Lewis as Louis or Uncle Lou. It is spelled as Louis in the family Bible.
   
   I live in Kirkland, WA, a suburb of Seattle. I was born (15 May 1940) and raised in Seattle. My father, Horace Greeley Rahskopf, was a professor at the Univ. of WA. He married my mother, Frances M. Jordan August 4, 1928 at Maryhill, Washington. I am the only child. Horace died January 22, 1984. Frances (b. 20 Jan 1900) died October 5, 1987, in Seattle. I married Lincoln Parker Bronsdon August 19,1967. Lincoln died July 5, 1985. We have 2 children, Carl Sterling Bronsdon, b. 8 November 1969, and Keith Jordan Bronsdon, b. 14 July 1971. Both boys live here in Seattle.
   
   There was a second child of Birdie and WT Jordan, Ruth Maddock Jordan Peterson. Ruth married Sterling D. Peterson. He died about 1962. Ruth died in August 1985. They had one son, Sterling Jordan Peterson who died about 10 years ago. He married Nancy McLemore of Seattle. She died this past summer. They had 4 children: Jordan, Baun, Cameron and Trina. All are in the Seattle area. I don't have all the dates handy.
   
   By the way, Maryhill is in Washington, on the Columbia River about 20 miles upstream from The Dalles, Oregon. It was called Columbus Landing, then Columbus until Mr. Hill came west and built his mansion on the hill above, now the Maryhill Museum. His daughter was Mary Hill. Hill was a dreamer, always looking for Utopia. He was a great friend of Queen Marie of Romania and brought her out to Maryhill for a great dedication.
   Dignitaries came from all over Oregon and Washington. My grandmother supplied flowers for the occasion. A neighbor took my grandparents to the ceremony in a car. I have Birdie's letter to my mother describing the occasion plus a lot of clippings.
   
   My grandfather WT got into an argument with Mr. Hill over water and land rights. They argued and Mr. Hill struck my grandfather across the cheek with his cane. I have a draft of a letter my grandfather wrote to Mr. Hill many years later asking for forgiveness, and the reply from Hill.
   
   Louis Maddock bought a ranch at Columbus Landing and later deeded it to Lucy Maddock and Birdie. After Lucy's death, Birdie and WT (now in Portland) decided to go up there to live for a year and put the ranch in order, hire a manager, etc. They stayed almost 30 years. Willie went from being a missionary to being a farmer. The ranch was called Tokay Ranch and was highly successful. They raised all the soft fruits, from cherries in June to pears and grapes in September. They had a great market because the fruit ripened in the gorge about 3 weeks ahead of the fruit at Goldendale, Yakima and Wenatchee. They shipped the grapes to the Italians in Yakima or to Portland and California by train. My mother Frances and sister Ruth grew up there and I heard so many stories about the community. They knew some Glover cousins and had many relatives in Portland. They lived in Portland from about 1904 to 1910 where WT was pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church. I have a letter to my mother Frances from a Glover in Oregon.
   
   About Henry Vaughn: I've heard many versions of this story. I have a draft of a letter Frank Maddock wrote to the governor of Oregon asking the Legislature to grant a pension to Vaughn's widow and children. They gave her a sum of money, $100 I believe. I also have some newspaper clippings about this.
   
   Apparently family did not like Uncle John's wife Ida. In one letter Lou calls her "that vixen."
   
   Well, we have a lot to talk about. I must say I am a sporadic genealogist at best. My mother Frances saved a lot of things and I've just been trying to sort things out and get organized. So far I have been more focused on the Jordan side of the family because I was trying to make the most of my time in Atlanta. Sue flooded me with so much Palmer material in one day that it is overwhelming, and a shift of focus.
   
   I was a microbiologist, and I am retired by default, not intention. I worked at the U of W for 30 years, retired, and took a contract in Atlanta at the CDC. I moved back to Kirkland 18 months ago after the end of my contract intending to work but have not been able to get a job. The unemployment rate here is 7.5% and higher in some counties. So I have been using my time trying to sort out so much stuff my mother left. It has been in boxes for many years. My next big effort is to transcribe all the old letters so I can work from the copies and put the originals into safe keeping. Someday I would like to edit the letters into a historical monograph. It is quite a picture of life in early Oregon.
   
   Well, this is a lot for a first contact. Let's keep in touch and thanks for contacting me!
   
   Melinda Bronsdon
   12229 N. E. 64th Street
   Kirkland, WA 98033
   425-827-5708
   e-mail address.
2. [S193] Melinda Bronsdon, "RE: Lucy Jane Palmer," e-mail message from e-mail address to Patricia Dunford, 14 Nov 2003.