by
Farris Wade Womack
August 2001

Christopher Edward Jordan lived for more than 84 years, his life touched every decade in the 19th Century. While he faced many hardships and trying circumstances throughout his long life, he demonstrated a indomitable spirit that was irrepressible and adventuresome.  Those characteristics live on in the lives of his descendants and each of them takes pride in being a Jordan. If you find an error on these pages or wish to offer a comment or suggestion, please email: fwwabw@bellsouth.net

Birth and Youth

            When Christopher was born in South Carolina in 1809, the United States had been a country for only 20 years, had declared its independence from England only 33 years before, and had actually achieved that independence 24 years before when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.  More ominous, the clouds of war were again gathering and would ultimately be cleared only with another epic struggle with England in the War of 1812.  And so Christopher's arrival came amidst uncertain times; perhaps a harbinger that his entire life would be a reflection of the political and economic confusion that had accompanied his birth. 

            With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, the rush of immigrants wishing to grow cotton intensified.  While tobacco continued to be the dominant crop in Virginia and North Carolina because of its demand and status as barter currency, the land was wearing out from overuse.  The growing slave population which promised a steady supply of free labor made Lower South Carolina and Georgia increasingly attractive for settlement and the mechanical gin made profitable cotton farming possible in the vast areas toward the west.

            Christopher was the youngest of the 12 children of William Jordan and his wife, Delilah.  While there is a considerable amount of information available to document the paternal ancestry of Christopher, none exists currently (2001) to provide more about the ancestry of his mother, Delilah.  Current scholarship shows only a birthplace in North Carolina.  Click here to read more about the ancestry of Christopher Edward Jordan.

            Christopher lived in South Carolina for only a few years; he was a lad of no more than 10 or 11 when he accompanied his parents to Elbert County, Georgia.  His father was listed on the 1820 Census with Christopher in the correct age category although unnamed because that Census listed only "heads of households".  The William Jordan family had lived in South Carolina almost 35 years before they crossed the Savannah River to Elbert County, Georgia.  Although the family had been in Edgefield County, South Carolina during the period from 1785-86 until shortly before 1820, there would be several relocations in the years just ahead.  

            Christopher Edward Jordan grew to adulthood in Elbert and Newton counties in the farming communities of eastern Georgia.  One wonders what life was like in the early part of the 19th century in this agrarian economy so strongly tied to the ups and downs that accompanied small scale farming.  Whatever the conditions were, they cannot be viewed through the prism of 21st century experiences.  Cotton was king and farming was the principal, if not the only, way to make a living.  Eli Whitney had invented the cotton gin in 1793, some researchers say while Whitney was teaching school on the John Talbot plantation near Washington, Georgia, and many farmers, both large and small, saw prosperous times ahead.  Land was fertile, plentiful and cheap; markets were good, and prices adequate.  Although life's necessities cost very little, hard currency was difficult to come by and barter was more common than the exchange of currency for goods.  Slavery was an economic asset and an accepted social norm although the Jordans, like most of their neighbors, had no slaves.

            Churches and schools, social institutions that are taken for granted in 2001, were uncommon in the early 1800's.  Circuit riding preachers appeared sporadically and summer revivals were common.  Public schools were largely non existent and those private schools that did exist were usually limited to a few grades of instruction conducted by one person for a few months each year.  The terms were scheduled around the labor needs on the farms for the planting and harvesting seasons.  Moreover, there was little need for highly skilled workers.  The ability to read, write, and compute, while useful, was not essential to success and great proficiency in those skills was of limited valued.  Stephen Ambrose, in his book, Undaunted Courage, provides a unusually clear picture of the educational opportunities and expectations for most children in the early 1800's.  Christopher must have learned to read and write although how those skills were acquired is not known.  He reported on each of the decennial censuses that he could read and write or, more precisely, he did not indicate that he couldn't.  

Christopher Edward Jordan marries Mary Ann Knowles   

          About 1834, the family moved from Elbert County to Newton County, Georgia and there Christopher met and married Mary Ann Knowles on September 23, 1834.  Mary Ann was the daughter, perhaps the oldest child, of Dennis Knowles and Elizabeth Mercer.  

Newton County, Georgia Marriage Record for
Christopher Edward Jordan and Mary Ann Knowles

(Image scan provided by Janet Marie Baker Burks)

            Dennis Knowles, who was born in either Delaware or Maryland, had apparently followed the typical migration pattern from north to south.  He arrived in Jasper County, Georgia before 1810 for there he met and married on March 22, 1810. Elizabeth Mercer, a native of South Carolina.  The Knowles lived in Jasper County for a decade or more before relocating to Newton County before 1823. Mary Ann, not quite a teenager when the family arrived in Newton County, grew to adulthood there and at the age of 23, she married Christopher.  Thus began a partnership that would last until Mary Ann's death, a span of 44 years that included the birth of twelve children, countless relocations,  and spawned thousands of memories.

          On September 27, 1835, Christopher's and Mary Ann's marriage was blessed by the arrival of their first child, a daughter, whom they named Permelia.   At least 11 others would follow but not all would survive into maturity.  When the last child, Georgia Anne, was born in 1853, in Alabama, the family would have moved many times, lived in three states, endured many hardships but still a relatively young couple at 44 and 43 years of age, respectively.  They were clearly unafraid of challenges and risks; perhaps that trait is the most precious one they passed to their children and grandchildren.  But there is more to the story as we shall see shortly.

The Early Years - More children and More Relocations

            There can be little doubt that Christopher and Mary Ann were farmers and that their early life in Newton County resembled in almost all respects the life of their parents and their neighbors.  Everyone farmed.  While there may have been a few who had other occupations, even those who ran stores, blacksmith shops, or other small businesses, also farmed.  A look at the early censuses provides the best evidence of the pervasive nature of farming.  And for the most part, the farms were small and tended exclusively by the family living on it.  The Hollywood version of the antebellum south pertains to a very few families and the Jordans were surely not in that group.

            The second child, a son whose name we have been unable to learn, was born December 8, 1836 and a third child, William Riley was born January 22, 1838.  Both of those children did not survive, however, the dates and places of their deaths have not been determined.  The prevailing evidence suggests that they died in Georgia before 1840.  Neither was listed on the 1850 Census, the first decennial census in which all family members names were reported rather than merely the "head of household" as had been the case from 1790 Census through 1840 Census.  The 1840 Census for Bradley County, Tennessee disclosed two females, one under age 5 and one between 5 and 10, the  correct age categories for Permelia and Sarah.  

            Sarah Elizabeth Jordan, the fourth child, was born in Newton County, Georgia on January 15, 1839.  She would be the last of the children born in Georgia.

            A short time after Sarah's birth in 1839 but before the 1840 Census was completed, Christopher and Mary Ann left their home in Georgia and relocated to Bradley County, Tennessee.   They were living in Tennessee in 1841 at the time of the birth of their fifth child, John T.  But the reasons why they moved to Tennessee in the first place and why they stayed there such a short time are clouded in mystery.  Bradley County, Tennessee is a border county with Georgia but the distance from Newton County is about 175 miles by current roadways and it would have been that much or more by the routes used in 1840.  And those miles could not be covered on roads that resembled in any material way the roads that the Jordan's 21st century descendants take for granted.  Roads in 1840 were little more than paths and a days journey would cover only a few miles.  Frequent stops to clear the path of stumps or fallen timber or to make repairs would have been routine.  The wagon would have been loaded with all the possessions they owned and they would have been obliged to walk  The journey probably took many days, perhaps a month or more,  with finding a place to spend each night and prepare meals a constant problem.  In 1839-40, Indians still posed a serious threat to travel although the worst of that problem had been solved by the relocation of the Indians further west.

            More perplexing than the underlying reason(s) for the decision to leave Georgia for Tennessee was the decision to leave Tennessee so soon after having arrived.  As noted above, Christopher and Mary Ann were living in Newton County, Georgia in 1839.  John T. was born in Tennessee in 1841, the month and day unknown, and the sixth child, Christopher Columbus Jordan was born in Randolph County, Alabama on December 28, 1842.  Accordingly, in a period of  no more than 30 months, they had moved from Georgia to Tennessee, a distance of 175 miles and then relocated to Alabama, a distance of 175 miles as well.  Certainly the attraction of free or cheap land in Alabama would have been a motivating force for them to come there but that attraction had existed at the time they chose to go to Tennessee.  And although they arrived in Randolph County, Alabama for the birth of Christopher Columbus in December 1842, they had moved further south to Chambers County before the birth of their seventh child, Dennis Rivers Jordan, on March 22, 1844.  

            While this pattern of relocation may seem strange today, it was not all that unusual in the 19th century South.  Land was cheap and plentiful.  There was no understanding of crop rotation to preserve the fertility of the soil and frequent moves were required to gain fertile fresh land for cotton.  The social structure encouraged pioneering and after the first move, there was little to restrain the second.  Still, the Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama moves in the spate of a few months seems odd, even by 1840 standards, especially the foray into and then out of Tennessee.

Now in Alabama but still on the move

            The 1850 Census for Chambers County, Alabama, shown in the table below, provided the first complete observation of the Christopher and Mary Ann Jordan family from an official source.  All of the children then living were listed and the absence of the two sons described above supports the conclusion that they had died, probably as infants.  Five children, John T, Christopher, Dennis, Mary Caroline, and Susan Lydia had been born during the decade.  All would survive into adulthood and begin families of their own as we shall soon see.  

                 The ages shown on the 1850 Census are at odds with other records of the birth dates for the children.  Discrepancies on the censuses' ages are common for a variety of reasons but none of these are significant.  Dennis R. was actually five years of age and Mary Caroline was three.  Spellings of names was actually better than usual with Permelia's being the most obvious error.  Nevertheless, this record reveal much.  John T.'s birth in Tennessee is substantiated followed by Christopher's only a year later.  Of particular interest is the real estate value attributed to Christopher.  Under the most generous inflation rates, a real estate value of $150.00 seems low for 1850.  His neighbors reported values of $100, $600, $400, $800, $800, and $200.  Further, it raises the question of what that number represents.  Did he own the land or was he a renter?  If a renter, what real property would be worth that much?

            After 1850 but before 1858, Christopher and Mary Ann again relocated their family, this time to Tallapoosa County, the county immediately west of Chambers.  The table below discloses the Land Patents acquired by Christopher based on data from the United States Bureau of Land Management.

            The three tracts of land in Tallapoosa County, all in different sections, were acquired on two different dates, however, the parcels are adjoining.  The length of their stay in Tallapoosa is not clear.  They acquired their last parcel in Tallapoosa County in February 1860 but only six months later, August 1860,  they acquired a parcel in Clay County.  An interesting but not necessarily important note is that the land they acquired in Clay County was actually in Talladega at the time of purchase.  Clay County was not formed until 1866 but when it was formed the Bureau of Land Management records followed the land to the county where it was finally placed.  The first Clay County tract contained 80 acres and two months later, Christopher acquired 40 additional acres, all adjoining.

            The family was living in Clay County in 1860.  Their Post Office was Bluff Springs, a village not far from the present day city of Ashland.  The two older children, Permelia and Sarah Elizabeth, had married Hiram Edward Runyan and James W. Webb, respectively, and were starting families of their own.  In fact, Permelia and Hiram had three children by 1860 and were living in Tallapoosa County near Daviston where Hiram was employed as an overseer, an occupation usually designating a slave master for a plantation owner.  Sarah Jordan and Jim Webb were expecting their first child, Andrew Jackson Webb, who actually did arrive in December 1860.

            Martha Angeline and Georgia Anne had been born during the decade and, now in 1860, the family was complete.  The ten surviving children were surely happy and well and enjoyed the things that families and children in those times found pleasant and tranquil.  In their wildest nightmares, the family could not have foreseen the events that would overtake their lives in the following months and surely they did not comprehend the devastating toll that the coming struggle would exact .  The Civil War, with all its horror and agony, was only a few months away when the census taker left the Jordan household in 1860.

The Family of Christopher Edward and Mary Ann Knowles Jordan

1 [4] Christopher Edward Jordan b: June 21, 1809 in Edgefield Co., SC d: November 7, 1895 in Cleburne Co., AR Burial: Aft. November 7, 1895 Mt. Zion Cemetery
.. +Mary Ann Knowles b: January 19, 1811 in Jasper Co., GA m: September 23, 1834 in Newton Co., GA d: August 24, 1878 in Clay Co., AL Burial: Lineville-Shiloh Cemetery
. 2 Permelia Jane Jordan b: September 27, 1835 in Newton Co., GA d: March 10, 1920 in Clay Co., AL-Shiloh
..... +Hiram Edward Runyan b: September 17, 1836 in Murray Co., GA-Spring Place m: December 26, 1854 d: September 10, 1918 in Clay Co., AL-Shiloh
. 2 FNU Jordan b: December 8, 1836 d: Bef. 1840
. 2 William Riley Jordan b: January 22, 1838 d: Bef. 1840
. 2 [1] Sarah Elizabeth Jordan b: January 15, 1839 in Probably Newton Co.,Georgia
..... +James "Jim" W. Webb b: 1839 in GA m: January 1, 1859 in Talladega Co., AL d: in UNK__Civil War
. *2nd Husband of [1] Sarah Elizabeth Jordan:
..... +Samuel M. Robertson b: 1835 in SC m: 1874
. 2 John T. Jordan b: 1841 in Bradley Co., TN (?)
..... +Sallie E. Robertson m: October 10, 1861 in Talladega Co., AL
. 2 Christopher Columbus Jordan b: December 28, 1842 in Randolph Co., AL d: March 12, 1916 in Cleburne Co., AR-Mt. Zion
..... +Elizabeth Caroline Callaway b: June 8, 1849 in Talladega Co., AL m: 1867 in Clay Co.,AL d: February 10, 1914 in Cleburne Co., AR-Mt.Zion
. 2 [2] Dennis Rivers Jordan b: March 22, 1844 in Chambers Co., AL d: August 18, 1900 in Hunt Co., TX-Lone Oak
..... +Sarah Francis Burns b: December 9, 1844 in GA m: October 22, 1868 in AL d: July 5, 1875 in AL
. *2nd Wife of [2] Dennis Rivers Jordan:
..... +Adaline Gibbs b: April 22, 1843 in AL m: August 28, 1877 in Jackson Co., AL d: August 27, 1887 in Rusk Co., TX-Pine Hill
. *3rd Wife of [2] Dennis Rivers Jordan:
..... +Diana Marcello Hillin b: February 24, 1855 in Jackson Co., AL-Langston m: December 23, 1888 in Rusk Co., TX-Pine Hill d: June 18, 1930 in Dallas Co., TX-Dallas
. 2 Mary Caroline Jordan b: 1847 in Chambers Co., AL d: September 24, 1879
..... +William Thomas Ragsdale b: in Clay Co., AL m: January 5, 1876 in Clay Co., AL
. 2 Emily Delilah ?? Jordan b: December 12, 1847 in Alabama d: November 19, 1923 in Jack Co., TX-Perrin
..... +Wesley Roselle Webb b: May 10, 1850 in Chambers Co., AL m: July 29, 1868 in Clay Co., AL d: March 23, 1905 in Parker Co., TX
. 2 Susan Lydia Jordan b: 1849 in Chambers Co., AL d: 1888 in Clay Co., AL-Lineville-Shiloh Cemetery
..... +Daniel Jackson Coleman b: October 18, 1852 in Henry Co., GA m: November 14, 1872 in Clay Co., AL d: August 28, 1947 in Fulton Co., GA-Atlanta
. 2 Martha "Mattie" Angeline Jordan b: July 6, 1853 in Chambers Co., AL d: February 6, 1938 in Jefferson Co.,OK-Ryan Burial: Grayson Co.,TX-Pottsboro
..... +Alfred Turner Long b: September 26, 1853 in AL m: Abt. 1878
. 2 [3] Georgia Anne Jordan b: 1853 in Chambers or Tallapoosa Co.,AL
..... +Malcolm Brown
. *2nd Husband of [3] Georgia Anne Jordan:
..... +Nelson Brown b: 1852 in AL m: 1873
*2nd Wife of [4] Christopher Edward Jordan:
.. +Amelia Caroline Blackstock b: February 1841 in Henry Co., GA ??? m: December 10, 1879 in Clay Co., AL d: Aft. 1900 in Bowie Co.,TX

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The Civil War Comes to the South and the Jordan Men Choose the Gray             

            Almost all histories of the prelude to the Civil War acknowledge that the question of Union or secession had advocates on both sides.   The area where the Jordans lived was no exception.  Although the Alabama countryside was aflame with emotions associated with states rights, leaving the Union and taking up arms against it was a powerful concern for these fiercely independent farmers.  Almost all the farmers were committed to the cause of southern independence but most had no vested economic interest in the issue of slavery.  Perhaps as many as 90 percent of the landowners had no slaves but they surely became ardently engaged in a struggle where slavery had come to be the central issue.  But was it the central issue for the Jordans?  Since they and almost all their neighbors did not own slaves, it seems odd that they would have  taken up arms so quickly against the country that their ancestor, William, had served so well in gaining its independence from England only a few short decades before.

            Early in 1862, Christopher and three of his sons joined Hilliard's Legion.  One wonders why the passions would have run so high when the consequences of their "going off to war" left Mary Ann with the responsibilities for the family, the farm, and placed at risk all the things that they had struggled to achieve.  When the Jordan men left for War, only females were left to tend to the family's business even though none of the daughters then at home were older than their early teens. What was the compelling interest for these men?  From the beginning, it was a war that could only end one way.  Certainly, the futility of the struggle is easier to see today than it was in 1861 but even the most optimistic southerner had to know that they faced a far superior force with enormous industrial and military might.  But the Jordans joined en mass and the consequences that followed were worse than any they might have thought possible.

            The stories of the war experiences for sons Christopher and Dennis are recounted elsewhere on the Jordan page and the experiences of John T. are still to be researched.  Click here to read more about the Civil War service of Christopher Columbus Jordan and Dennis Rivers Jordan.

Christopher Edward Jordan in the Civil War

            Hilliard's Legion, organized at Montgomery in June 1862,  was composed of five battalions (one cavalry and four infantry) and one battery of artillery.  In late 1862, the cavalry battalion, commanded by Colonel M.M. Slaughter of Talladega County, was consolidated with Goode's Georgia Cavalry Battalion, to become the 10th Confederate Cavalry Regiment.  In November 1863, the four infantry battalions were reassigned, and used to form the 59th and 60th Alabama Infantry Regiments, and the 23d Alabama Infantry Battalion. At this time, Hilliard's Legion faded out of existence.

           Although Christopher Edward and his sons had all joined the Legion, they were not assigned to the same unit when the Legion was disbanded.  Christopher Edward was assigned to the 37th Alabama while his son, Christopher Columbus Jordan, was placed in the 59th.  The two units have very different histories.  Much of the fighting done by the 37th took place in the west while the battle campaigns for the 59th were almost exclusively in the east.

          The Thirty-seventh was organized at Auburn, in the spring of 1862, under the requisition of President Davis for 12,000 more Alabamians. Ordered to Columbus, Miss., after a short time the regiment proceeded to Tupelo. There it was placed in Little's division, and in the brigade of Col. Martin of Tennessee, with three Mississippi regiments; but Gen. D.H. Maury succeeded Gen. Little, when the latter was killed at Iuka, where the Thirty-seventh was first engaged, with some loss. The regiment took part in the battle of Corinth, losing heavily in casualties. Its brigade commander fell at Corinth, and the Thirty-seventh was thrown into a brigade with the Second Texas, and Forty-second Alabama, Hen. John C. Moore commanding. The winter was spent in Mississippi, - the regiment retreating Holly Springs, and taking part in the repulse of the invaders at Chicasa Bayou. Early in 1863 the Thirty-seventh was sent to the Sunflower River, but went back in time to take part in the battles of Port Gibson and Baker's Creek, where its losses were severe. The regiment was then a portion of the garrison of the Vicksburg, and shared in the perils of that siege, where it was captured with the fortress. Exchanged soon after, the regiment was in parole camp at Demopolis. Ordered to the Army of Tennessee, it lost heavily at Lookout Mountain, and quite a number at Mission Ridge. The winter was passed at Dalton, where Gen. Baker of Barbour took charge of the brigade. At Mill-creek Gap, Resaca, Noonday Creek, Kennesa, and the series of battles around Atlanta, the colors of the Thirty-seventh floated at the front, as its long list of casualties shows. In one charge at Atlanta, July 22, its commander and 40 men were killed outright, out of 300 men present. During the fall and winter, the Thirty-seventh was on garrison duty at Spanish Fort, but moved into North Carolina. It broke the enemy's line at Bentonville, and furled its tattered banner a few days later, with 300 of its number present of the 1100 with which it took the field.

            Current scholarship has not reveal the service record of Christopher Edward Jordan, his separation from the Confederate Army, nor the circumstances that finally ended the war for him.  More than likely, he served out the War and was paroled in the late spring of 1865.  He would have been 56 years old when the War ended, a rather advanced age for getting a new start.  That he survived, returned to his family and lived for another 30 years,  is a matter of record.  But the War left indelible scars and condemned him and thousands of others like him to a life of hardship and mistreatment.  If the War years had been harsh and ruthless, the Reconstruction years  were filled with the bitterness of defeat coupled with the vindictiveness of a Federal Government that was more interested in retribution than in healing.  But through it all, Christopher Edward Jordan never seemed to falter, he started doing the things he knew how to do well and succeed in rebuilding his life and that of his family.  How we wish Christopher and Mary Ann had kept a diary to tell us about their struggles to keep the family intact!   

            While the decade after 1860 had been filled with more than its share of heartbreak, it had brought some happy moments into the Jordan family.  John had taken a bride, Sallie Roberson, in 1861.  After the cessation of the hostilities in 1865,  Christopher Columbus married Elizabeth Caroline Callaway about 1867.  Emily Delilah married Wesley Roselle Webb in the summer of 1868 and later that year, Dennis Rivers Jordan was married to Sarah Francis Burns. Although times were hard and life was often demanding, there were surely some wonderfully warm moments when the family could be thankful and proud.

          The Aftermath of the Civil War

            By the time the 1870 Census was taken, Christopher was back in Clay County, Alabama, living in the community served by the Millerville Post Office.  His widowed daughter, Sarah Elizabeth whose husband, James W. Webb, had been killed in the Civil War, and her son, Andrew Jackson Webb, were living in his home.  Living nearby was Hezekiah Street and his wife, Nancy Talbot.  Hugo Lafayette Black, a United States Senator and finally an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, was the great grandson of Hezekiah and Nancy.  The Streets, Tolands, and Blacks were neighbors of Christopher and Mary Ann.  Many years later when Christopher sold his land in preparation for the move to Arkansas to live with his son, Merit Talbot Street was the buyer.

            An interesting footnote concerning the property values reported by Christopher in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 Censuses deserves notice.  In 1850, his reported real estate value was $150.00, in 1860, it was $500.00, and by 1870, it was $400.00.  The decade following the Civil War had taken its toll on property values and the decline in the value of Christopher's land was typical for the small time dirt farmers across the south.          

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            On August 24, 1878, Mary Ann Knowles died and was buried.  The actual grave site is unknown but a marker has been placed in the Shiloh Cemetery at Lineville, Alabama by her descendants, Janet Marie Baker Burks and Ethel  Maudine Coleman Brazier.  With the death of Mary Ann, a marriage of more than 44 years came to an end.  That union had produced 12 children and had nurtured the ten surviving children into creative and contributing individuals.  Mary Ann's legacy of devotion to her family and steadfastness in the midst of hardship serves as a shining example for her descendants.  The Jordan descendants are a proud lot and her life provided each of them with plenty of justifiable pride.

            Mary Ann had lived long enough to rear her children and see all of them married with families of their own.  In 1872, Susan married Daniel Jackson Coleman and later that same year, Martha Angeline married Alfred Long.  In 1876, Mary Caroline married William Thomas Ragsdale and Georgia Anne was married to Nelson Brown, and after his death to Nelson's brother, Malcolm.  Hence, by the time Mary Ann Knowles Jordan was laid to rest in the Alabama red clay that had been her home for more than 30 years, she had the satisfaction of seeing 10 of her12 children reach adulthood.  Many were still living nearby although a few had followed in her own footsteps and had migrated further west, surely in search of the same things that had driven her to leave everything behind and strike out on her own with Christopher so many years before.

            Almost a year and a half after Mary Ann's death, Christopher Edward Jordan was remarried to Amelia Caroline Blackstock Coleman.  The wedding ceremony took place at Mrs. Coleman's home on 10 Dec 1879.  Although the marriage records show " that each was over 40 years of age", the 1880 Census showed that Amelia was then only 40.  That report was clearly in error if the above is correct and if the date in earlier records showing her birth date as 1841 is correct.  Nevertheless, she was at least 30 years younger than Christopher.  

            The table below discloses the Christopher Edward Jordan household as reported on the 1880 Census for Clay County.  Christopher continued to report his occupation as that of a farmer and the new couple had Amelia's three sons from a previous marriage at home and working on the farm.            

( Maudine Brazier has worked to resolve the confusion in the name of the second Mrs. Jordan.  While this Census shows her name as Amanda, Maudine has discovered other records show that it was Amelia.    Amanda C. was the daughter of Amelia and her first husband.  She married her first cousin, John T. Blackstock on 3-2-1881.)

            Christopher and Amelia spent the next ten years in Clay County, Alabama, probably on the same farm where he had been living in 1870.  Indeed, it seems likely that Christopher spent almost thirty years of his life in Clay County, having moved there before 1860.  Although he had moved often and sometimes rather long distances before 1860, he seemed to have found a home in the Clay/Talledega area and planted his roots deep in the red clay soil of east central Alabama.  But age and its consequences brought about the need for one more move, this time to the Ozark foothills in north Arkansas where his son and namesake, Christopher Columbus Jordan, lived.

            Some family stories say that Christopher went first to Wood County, Texas after leaving Clay County, Alabama.  Two of his children, Christopher Columbus and Emily Jordan Webb, had lived in Wood County, Texas, near Quitman, for a brief period.  Christopher Columbus had remained in Texas from 1870 to 1879 and Emily had moved there after 1871 but before 1874.  Both had moved to Arkansas by 1880.  Emily Jordan Webb and her family returned to Texas after 1890.  The final stop on his trek through life was at or near the farm of his son, Christopher Columbus, in Northeast Cleburne County near the present day Post Office of Concord, Arkansas.  Following his death in 1895, he was interred at the Mt. Zion Cemetery, adjacent to the Mt. Zion Baptist Church where Columbus and his family attended.

            Following the death of her husband, Amelia Caroline Blackstock Coleman Jordan moved to Texas to live with her children from her first marriage to Daniel Jackson Coleman.  In the 1900 Census for Bowie County, Texas, she was listed with her son, Francis Griffin "Frank" Coleman and his wife, Eldrado.  She stated that she was the mother of six children and that three were then living.  She died in 1925 and was buried in the Old Union Cemetery in Bowie County, Texas.

Conclusion

            And so, life's journey for Christopher Edward Jordan came to an end in the Ozark foothills of North Arkansas.  He had lived in each of the 10 decades of the 19th century, resided in five states, and he died in a place more than 750 miles westward from his birth place.  His 12 children had been born in three states and by the time of his death, those children had scattered further west and would eventually spread across the country.  In so many ways, he was typical of the thousands of Americans who endured the hard economic times, the bitterness of a harsh Civil War, and persevered through its aftermath to built a better life for themselves and their children.  But for most of them, the good times never came, at least not in a material sense.  But the legacy that they left their descendants was the great country that they had given so much to build.

            Finding an appropriate way to end a story as fascinating and absorbing as this one presents a challenge.  He wasn't "larger than life", he did not command large armies or head huge organizations, and the wealth he accumulated was small. But he played well the simple role he was given.  He was a credit to his family and an inspiration to his descendants.  In retrospect, perhaps that is the principal "starring role" in the drama of every life