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The progenitor of the family in Georgia was Ambrose Gordon (1751-1804) who came to this state from Monmouth County, New Jersey, some time after the Revolutionary War. He settled in Augusta where he married Elizabeth Mead(e), by whom he had several children; he later moved to Savannah. One son, William Washington Gordon (1796-1842), referred to hereinafter as W.W. Gordon I, was named for Lt. Col William Washington under whom Ambrose Gordon served in the Revolution. There is only one Ambrose Gordon letter in this collection, dated June 18, 1802. W.W. Gordon I married Sarah Anderson Stites (1806-1882), daughter of Richard Montgomery Stites and Mary (Wayne) Stites. W.W. Gordon I was the first graduate of the United States Military Academy from Georgia (1815), a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and of the Georgia Senate, Mayor of Savannah, and founder and first president of the Central Rail Road Banking Company (now the Central of Georgia Railroad Company). He and his wife had George Anderson Gordon (1830-1872), William Washington Gordon (1843-1912) referred to hereinafter as W.W. Gordon II, Eliza Clifford Gordon who married William Henry Stiles, and Gulielma C. Gordon who married George Evelyn Harrison of Virginia. George Anderson Gordon married (1) Caroline Steenbergen, by whom he had one son. He married (2) Ellen Beirne of Huntsville, Alabama, and his son by this marriage, Beirne Gordon, became associated with his uncle, W.W. Gordon, in business.
W.W. Gordon II was a graduate of Yale University, a cotton factor, and commission merchant in Savannah. He was a member of the Georgia Hussars, a Savannah cavalry troop, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he entered into service as a Lieutenant in that company in General J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry. After the War he served with the Georgia State Cavalry. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives, 1884-1890. He entered the Spanish-American Was as Brigadier General of the U.S. Volunteers, at the end of which he was a member of the Commission of the United States for Puerto Rico. He was a member and leader in several civic and benevolent associations in Savannah. In 1857 he married Eleanor (Nelly) Lytle Kinzie (1835-1917) of Chicago, daughter of John Harris Kinzie and Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie. There were several children of this marriage: Eleanor Kinzie Gordon (1858-1933) who married Richard Wayne Parker, son of Cortlandt Parker; Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon (1860-1927), nicknamed 'Daisy,' who married William Mackay Low of England, and is hereinafter referred to as Juliette (Gordon) Low; (Sara) Alice Gordon (1863-1880); William Washington Gordon, Jr. (1866-1932), hereinafter referred to as W.W. Gordon III; Mabel McLane Gordon, who married the Honorable Rowland Charles Frederick Leigh, son of Baron Leigh; and George Arthur Gordon (1872-1941). Juliette (Gordon) Low is internationally known for founding the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in 1912. W.W. Gordon III, a lawyer, was a graduate of Yale University, a member of the Georgia Hussars, and a Major in the Georgia Militia. He married Ellen Buchanan Screven, by whom he had several children. Among them were William Washington Gordon IV, known as 'B,' and Margaret Eleanor Gordon, known as 'Daisy Doots,' who married Samuel C. Lawrence. Mabel (Gordon) Leigh had Rowland Henry Gordon Leigh and Margaret Ethel Leigh. Eleanor (Gordon) Parker had Alice Gordon Parker, Eleanor Wayne Parker, Elizabeth Wolcott Parker, Wayne Parker (died age 7), and Cortlandt Parker. George Arthur Gordon, also a graduate of Yale University, was president of the Savannah Cotton Exchange in 1896. In the Spanish-American War he served as a volunteer aide on his father's staff. He was a member of the National Guard and Became Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Infantry, Georgia State Troops. He was a city alderman, 1907-1911, member of the Board of Education, 1920-1923, and of the Trustees of Chatham Academy. In 1918 he was a volunteer with the American Red Cross in France. He belonged to several civic, benevolent, and social organizations. He married Margaret McGuire of Richmond, Virginia, by whom he had Mary Stuart Gordon, George Arthur Gordon, Jr., (well-known author and editor), Edward McGuire Gordon (killed in action in World War II), and Margaret Eleanor Gordon. George Arthur Gordon was associated with his father in the cotton factorage business, and operated as Gordon & Company after his father's death.
Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie (1806-1870), mother of Eleanor (Nelly) Kinzie Gordon was the author of The Chicago Massacre, first published in 1844 and later embodied in her Wau-Bun, 1856. Both books came out in later editions. Wau-Bunwas re-edited by Eleanor Kinzie Gordon and published in 1901 and 1912. Mrs. Gordon also re-edited The Chicago Massacreand published it in 1912 as The Fort Dearborn Massacre.Juliette A. Magill Kinzie also wrote Mark Logan, published in 1869 and republished by Mrs. Gordon in 1887. Mrs. Gordon edited and published, in 1907, Rosemary and Rue, in memory of her daughter, (Sara) Alice Gordon , and John Kinzie, the "Father of Chicago:" A Sketch, in 1910.
William Washington Gordon II, cotton factor and commission merchant, was first associated with William Hayes Tison, whose first business in Savannah was established ca.1853 as Reed & Tison (Elias Reed). Upon Mr. Reed's death, Tison became associates with William Mackay, as Tison & Mackay. This partnership was dissolved in July 1856, and Mr. Gordon became a partner under the firm name of Tison & Gordon. Mr. Tison died in November 1877, and in 1883 Mr. Gordon established his own firm, W.W. Gordon & Company, with Francis D. Bloodworth and Beirne Gordon, nephew of W.W. Gordon, as partners. Mr. Bloodworth resigned his partnership in September 1893. G. Arthur Gordon, son of W.W. Gordon, started work with the company ca.1893 and in the early 1900s he became a partner. W.W. Gordon died in 1912, and the firm was reincorporated as Gordon & Company, cotton factors, in June 1913. In January 1914, Beirne Gordon withdrew from the firm, and it was thereafter operated by Arthur Gordon. In 1930, the firm was changed to Gordon Cotton Company. Gordon Cotton Company was closed ca.1934. In 1924, G. Arthur Gordon became associated with the Savannah Warehouse and Compress Company as its president, and was its president when he died in 1941.
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The collection has been arranged as follows: family correspondence (except Juliette (Gordon) Low); personal papers of William Washington Gordon II; Nelly (Eleanor) Kinzie Gordon; Juliette (Gordon) Low and the Girl Scouts; George Arthur Gordon; other members of the family; household receipted bills; Gordon business companies; Gordon real estate; Kinzie; Chicago; genealogies; scrapbooks; photographs; large documents, etc.
There is some overlapping of information in the various groups, e.g., family correspondence and the publications of Wau-Bun and The Chicago Massacre in the Kinzie group; some business correspondence and family correspondence, etc. There are also letters (including some of Juliette (Gordon) Low), invitations and other memorabilia in the scrapbooks. One should read carefully the itemized list for full coverage on a person or a subject.
Juliette (Gordon) Low's papers are divided into four categories: personal matters; financial matters; property, will, and estate; Girl Scout matters. The first category, personal matters, consists mainly of personal correspondence, 1874-1926. A portion of the personal correspondence is made up of incomplete and/or undated letters; some of the undated material has been tentatively dated through internal evidence. Also included in personal matters are writings by and about Juliette (Gordon) Low; poetry by or collected by Juliette (Gordon) Low; newspaper clippings, mostly about English friends, collected by Juliette (Gordon) Low; a horoscope and other miscellaneous material. The box containing financial matters holds financial correspondence to and from and concerning Juliette (Gordon) Low; receipts; cancelled checks; and records of accounts and investments. The third category: property, will, and estate, includes legal documents and a few pieces of correspondence relating to these documents. This material is concerned with the property settlement between William Mackay Low and Juliette Gordon Low, property that came to Juliette (Gordon) Low, and papers relating to the dispersal of the estate of Juliette (Gordon) Low. The fourth category, Girl Scout matters, includes Girl Scout correspondence, 1912-1926 and undated; speeches relating to Girl Scouts; history of the Girl Scouts; legal documents relating to the Girl Scouts; Girl Scout merit badges and other insignia; and miscellaneous material relating to the Girl Scouts.
All papers in these categories have been counted and are included in the total count, but only the personal and Girl Scout matters have been itemized. There are some letters which contain persona, Girl Scout, and financial information all together. In most cases the subject matter discussed at greatest length in the letter determines the category in which it is placed, but some letters, particularly those which contain both person and Girl Scout information, could be placed in either category.
The collection includes one roll of microfilm, consisting of Gordon family letters, 1862-1864, of which the originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, #2235 at the University of North Carolina.
The collection also contains a number of addenda. Addendum 1, located in Box 42, contains additional letters photostats of manuscripts, and other documents relating to Ambrose Gordon, the Gordons in New Jersey, and other members of the Gordon family. Addenda 2-4 and 6-7 are all housed in Box 43 of the collection. Addendum 2 includes Girl Scout scrapbooks and clippings relating to George Arthur Gordon, Jr. Addendum 3 is comprised of family letters. Addendum 4 consists of letters, 1913-1932, historical essays, maps, photographs, and an inventory and service record of W.W. Gordon, Jr., during the Spanish-American War, 1902. Addendum 5, interfiled into Box 1, Folder 2, consists of two letters from Sarah Anderson (Stites) Gordon to her husband William Washington Gordon I, concerning family news and whether or not Mr. Gordon would return from the Georgia Senate in Milledgeville in time for Christmas. Addendum 6 contains additional letters and papers, 1717-1925 and undated. Addendum 7 consists of Low family photographs. Addendum 8 has been interfiled into Box 1, Folders 5-9; it consists of correspondence from four individuals: Sarah Anderson Stites Gordon, William Washington Gordon II, Eleanor 'Nelly' Lytle Kinzie Gordon, and Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie. The dates of the letters range from 1861 to 1864 and the content is often directly related to the Civil War.
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Artifacts GHS 0318-AF-0134-001 through GHS 0318-AF-0134-026 were separated from folder 220 and cataloged with the artifacts collection.
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42 boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 4 volumes, 3 oversize folders, 1 microfilm roll
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As a preservation measure, glass plate images have been separated from the photographs (one plate is broken). Researchers should use the print duplicates of these plates located in the collection rather than the originals.
A microfilm reader is required to view a portion of the correspondence.
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All requests for permission to publish an image or document must be submitted in writing to Georgia Historical Society.
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[creator]. [title]. [date]. GHS 0318 Gordon family papers. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.
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Location & Availability of Originals
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Originals of microfilmed letters are located in the Southern Historical Collection, #2235, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
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