John C Gordon, my 2nd great grandfather, was born in New Jersey around 1830. We know that he was born in New Jersey because most of the censuses that he shows up in record New Jersey as his birthplace; also family verbal history notes that he was born in New Jersey.
The earliest record that I
have for John C Gordon is the 1855 New York Census which shows him living in
Brooklyn. By that time John was married
to Mary Elizabeth Snedeker Gordon with a child, Ellen, who is eight months
old. John is noted in the census as a
“market man” and I believe that indicates that he was employed in retail
business. By 1860, the couple had
another daughter, and the census shows John’s occupation to be a
machinist. Subsequent censuses, and also
city directories for the next 25 years, show John’s occupation as a machinist or
engine builder.
In 1863, John C Gordon is in included in the Civil War Draft Register as a machinist, born in New Jersey, married and living in Brooklyn at 148 Park Avenue. Given that John was in his early 30’s at this time, it’s reasonable to wonder if he might have enlisted or been drafted to fight in the Civil War. But we found no records that indicate that John was ever in the military. The 1863 address for the family is very near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, making it reasonable to assume that maybe John’s machinist skills were needed at the Brooklyn Naval Yard for the Union effort.
The Gordon family grew to five children including Ella, Theresa, John Calvin, Catharine known as Katie, and Harry – all of whom lived to adulthood. Over the next 20 years the Gordon family lived at a couple of different Brooklyn addresses, though they were all still relatively close to the same area. Later, and not long before John’s death in 1886, John & Mary Elizabeth moved a bit further away to 23 Moffat Street, a home that they owned, also in Brooklyn.
John’s death certificate shows him to have been a carpenter, not a machinist. However, I suspect that in his later years, John probably did carpentry, construction or odd jobs for his son, John Calvin Gordon, who was a Brooklyn builder. Mary Elizabeth outlived John by another 25 years.
Information in John’s obituary mentioned that he had belonged to a masonic organization. I checked with the New York Masonic Library, and verified that he joined the Joppa No. 201 Lodge as a machinist in 1858, and was a lifetime member, likely a Master Mason.
John C Gordon, who was born about 1830 and died in 1886, is one of my most frustrating genealogy brick walls in that I have never been able to determine who his parents were or even if he had any siblings.
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Key individuals:
John C Gordon (~1830 – 1886)
Mary Elizabeth Snedeker Gordon (1832 – 1912)
Ella F Gordon (1854 – 1895)
Theresa J Gordon (1858 – 1884)
John Calvin Gordon (1860 – 1945)
Catharine/Katie L Gordon (1863 – aft. 1942)
Harry Gordon (1873 – 1914)
Notes:
1) You may have noticed that the eldest son of John C Gordon and Mary Elizabeth is John Calvin Gordon. That makes one think that possibly John Calvin Gordon is a Jr and maybe Calvin is also the father’s middle name. But unfortunately, we have only seen the initial C, and never Calvin, associated with the father’s name on documents. And also along those lines, we have never seen John Calvin Gordon referred to as a Jr on any documents.
2) Verbal family history about our Gordon ancestors are that we are related to “a Peter Gordon” and that the family roots “go back to Scotland”.
3) There are problems with some online family trees that show the parents of our John C Gordon as William Crawford Gordon & Catharine Quackenbush of Monmouth County, New Jersey. That assertion comes from finding an 1850 Census showing John Gordon at 18 years with parents of William C & Catharine Gordon in Monmouth County. The assumption is then made that he is the same as our John C Gordon found 5 years later in Brooklyn at 23 years in the 1855 Census – but he isn’t. The John Gordon found in the 1850 census with his parents, William C & Catharine Gordon, actually died in 1906 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/41381_2421406274_0781-02510?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.86089116.563974912.1636489847-1507448262.1587330499&pId=2220671 and he is buried in the Old Tennant Churchyard in Monmouth where is parents are also buried. He could not possibly have been our John C Gordon.
I suspect that we might be related to this line of the Gordon family – just not directly through William Crawford Gordon & Catharine Quackenbush.
4) My cousin, Lynn, and I have worked together on our common genealogy for many years, mostly via email as we don’t live near each other. Our John C Gordon has always been a major mystery for us and after many years, and countless hours of research, we are still unable to find any information on his birth family in New Jersey. More recently, we attempted to find some answers to our questions using DNA. I’ll share that journey with you in my next blog post.
– Jane Scribner McCrary
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