I’ve heard it said that Granny’s father, Campbell Ambrose Jordan (pronounced Jurden), was a mountain man, resourceful and a hard worker. As a young man he went to live with his mother’s family for a time, possibly in the vicinity of present day Kansas. There is a tantalizing note in a spiral notebook left by my grandmother, “per Cam’s memoirs.” If I had one wish, it would be to find someone with a copy of such memoirs.
Cam’s father was James Jordan from Georgia. He was the product of unknown parentage, a foundling, the soul survivor of an Indian attack on a wagon train. The little red headed, blue eyed infant was adopted. It is not known if Jordan was his birth name or if it was the name of his adopted family.
Cam’s mother, Martha Bull, was Indian. The little spiral notebook notes, “She must have been born about 1820 because she remembered when the stars fell (November 10-12, 1833). She had dark hair, dark eyes and might have had an accent, reportedly calling her husband “Jeem.” The children remembered her telling them to be proud of their native ancestry because they were kin to the great chief Sitting Bull. Some believed that she was not Indian but French. To further complicate matters, Aunt Jip returned from a trip back east and told everyone she had visited the Bull plantation. She said they were descended from the English Bulls. This seemed even less likely.
Jim and Martha’s children were a mixed bag of his fair complexion and her dark complexion. Even today, older family members refer to the “dark Jordans” and the “light Jordans.” The two oldest boys, Jim and Bob, died while serving in the Confederate Army. Cam returned from his stay with Martha’s family with the intention of enlisting but the war had ended. After Cam, there were two younger brothers, Tom and Dan. There were four girls: Ann, Mary, Susie and Rebecca.
After returning to Arkansas, Cam courted and wed Alice Martha Taylor and they settled on a farm. He built a nice little log cabin with a puncheon floor, a luxury in those days. Their first two children, Nick and Emma, were native born Arkansans. After a few years, Cam got the idea to move to Texas. Their land in Arkansas was wooded and hilly and the men wore themselves out clearing it for farming. The word was Texas had lots of good, clear farmland available. So preparations were made to move the family to Texas. As the time to leave neared, Alice did not want to leave her home. She sat on the porch in her rocking chair as the wagon was loaded. Cam left her a horse and wagon and told her that when she was ready, she could come on. Then Cam, the kids and all their belongings drove away. She sat for awhile absorbing every last detail of her home. After a bit, she put the rocking chair in the back of the wagon and took off after her family heading to Texas.
Please contact me. I have much information to share with you.
Roger