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Little Is Known About Seven Jordan Brothers In this Areakittle information has been found available on the Jordan family and the seven brothers who were among the first party of white settlers in Franklin county, other •nan that handed down by tradition.1*rancis (Frank) Jordan, the hardy pioneer who built Frank's I’ort, the outpost for which West I'rank fort was named, has seemingly Jeft no traces of his passing other than land entries and that recorded in earlier histories of the county.Early historians credited Frank Jordan with building Frank’s Fort but no record was found of his doings in later years. The only descendants of the Jordan clan found living in Franklin county’s Cave township and the northeastern part of Williamson county, the site of the two forts constructed by that first party of settlers, are those of one Thomas Jordan and his wife, Irene Cantrell.It is possible that the Thomas Jordan mentioned could have been one of the original seven brothel's that entered Franklin county or a son of one of the original seven brothers. .Only four of the seven brothers have been identified by name, those being Francis (Frank). Thomas, James and Elias Jordan. The names of the other three have not been found.Alva Heflin who resides near Thompsonvilie and who is also interested in early history of the area, on which he has done considerable research, tells one story of the Jordans' trek to Illinois.It is said that about the year 1800 twelve families in the Mt. Airy community of Smith county, Tennessee, started across the overland trail to Illinois, heading for the lead mines at Galena. The pioneers crossed the Ohio river on rafts in Elizabethtown and headed north.On entering what is now Saline county, the travelers were said to have been stricken by smallpox and stopped their trek near whAt was later the village of Somerset. The twelve families are Identified ir the Jordan, Hdrton, Barns, Story, Biggers, Ewell. Wright, Kilgore, Moore, Cannon, Rude andEstes families. They named their settlement Mt. Airy.Chisem Estes died on Feb. 10, 1829, and is said to be the first person buried in the Coffee cemetery, south of what is now Harrisburg. Estes was born in 1762.In 1804, seven of the Jordan brothers, Joseph Estes, John and William Browning and William Bar-brey pushed on into the wilderness, so it is said, and eventually stopped near what is now the Liberty church, southeast of Thompson-ville. Here, in 1809, they built the old Jordan fort, or “Fort Jordan’1 as it is termed by some early historians. Francis (Frank) Jordansoon after constructed another fort, some three miles to the south overlooking Pond Creek. It was this second fort for which West Frankfort was named.Frank Jordan filed claim on several tracts of lanu, including average in Denning township, but sold the fort site and other lands to James Jordan, his brother, in 1823 for $400. That was seemingly the last trace of Frank Jordan with his history lost in the mire of more than a century ago. All traces of five of the other six brothers are also gone but there is good reason to believe Thomas Jordan remained in the vicinity of Frank's Fort and the old Jordan fort.One story is that the Jordans were not settlers but hunters and Indian fighters and that they eventually pushed on to find new lands to conquer, joining the ever-moving westward tide. At least one of the Jordan brothers did remain in Franklin county.It is believed likely that Thomas Jordan listed as the husband of Irene Cantrell was one of the original seven brothers. It is possible that he could have been the youngest or among the youngest of the clan.The first child of the Jordan-Cantrcll marriage, Caroline Jordan, was born July 18, 1832, according to the undent record of births, to the grandparents of Mrs. Minnie Garrett, 85, a resident of the Frank’s Eotf area. , If the Jordan*lifted ron the old parchment was one of the original i brothers, Mrs. Garrett is hisgranddaughter, for the Caroline Jordan recorded as their first child was Mrs. Garrett’s mother. Oilier residents of the area who can claim Thomas Jordan as their grandfather are Charles Summers, proprietor of a small country store, and Mrs. Ilottio Cox, both of whose parents were children of Thomas Jordan.The Jate marriage and birth of the fits! child to the Jordan-Can-troll alt ilia lion may be accounted for by a shortage of eligible females in the still virgin territory. One story handed down is that one of the Jordan brothers married an Indian girl.The Jordans were all apparently prolific family men. Seven bro-ihors.cairn* to Franklin county and Thomas Jordan and Irene Cantrell had 10 children: fivlt;* boys, identified as Blu iBluford), Elias, Beth,. Jack and A1 rS( and five girls, Caroline, Connie. Sarah, Sydney and Mary. Mrs. Garrett said her mother, this former Caroline Jordan, died in 1898 and she had no memory of her grandfather other than he had been buried in East Fork cemetery. She said the toms-slone disappeared and the grave was chatted” over several years ago.Neither Mrs. Garrett, Mrs. Cox ! nor Summers had any memory of ' their grandparents nor did they know what happened to the original clan. They did not know whether or Hit their grandfather, Thomas Jordan, was one of the original brothers.Heard from several sources, as handed down from years past, was that the Jordan clan sired big, brawny men who took naturally to the woodland trails. One vivid description was that they were tur-' rible to fight ” and excellent hun-| ten's. Piecing together several | tales indicalcd the Jordans were 1 natural-horn leaders, j There’s seme tall tales still told I about Francis (Frank) Jordan [whom many oldtimers credit with being the leader of the Jordan clan. One, probably attached to the Indian Qldu Jordanfdrf wlien TlafbreyTvas klfeclpf^ that Frank saw his brother wounded in the same attack in which
Newspaper Details
West Frankfort Daily American
West Frankfort, Illinois, US
Wed, Sep 21, 1955
Page 46
Full Page
Clipped by
John G.
NA, 31 Jan 2025
Other Publications Near West Frankfort, Illinois
McLeansboro Gazette
Franklin County Gazette
West Frankfort Daily American
