Eben Dyer Jordan Sr. (October 13, 1822 − November 15, 1895) was an American business executive, best remembered as the co-founder of the

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain Jordan, Marsh & Co. with Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841.

Early life

Jordan was born in Danville, Maine, on October 13, 1822. He was a son of Benjamin and Lydia (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Wright) Jordan and, through his father, was directly descended from the Rev. Robert Jordan, a clergyman of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, who came to America and settled in present-day

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

in or around 1640. After his father died young, leaving his mother in charge of several children, Jordan was sent to live with a neighbor on their farm where he learned to farm, saving up enough money to leave Portland and move to Boston at age fourteen.

Career

Jordan clerked for two years in the dry goods store of William P. Tenney & Co. before working for another merchant named Pratt. At age nineteen, one of Boston's leading merchants, Joshua Stetson, "appreciated his ability, and offered to assist him in starting business on his own account." At twenty-five he sold his thriving store and went to work for J. M. Beebe, who taught him "not only a practical knowledge of the principles, methods, and in the management of a great business enterprise, but of the system which Mr. Beebe had perfected only after twenty-five years of close and assiduous labor and study." In addition to co-founding the

chain

Jordan Marsh Jordan Marsh was an American department store chain founded in 1841 by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh. It was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. The destruction of the historical flagship store o ...

with Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841, Jordan led a group of businessmen in founding ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' in 1872.

Personal life

On January 13, 1847, he married Julia M. Clark (1825–1897), a daughter of James and Elizabeth (née Raymond) Clark. They had five children: * Walter Jordan (1848–1854), who died young. * James Clark Jordan (1850–1910), who married Helen L. Stevens and Jeannette Amanda Stiles; he developed Jordan Park in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. * Julia Maria Jordan (b. 1852), who married Herbert Dumaresq in 1873; he was a cotton manufacturer and who later became a partner in Jordan, Marsh & Company. * Eben Dyer Jordan Jr. (1857–1916), who married May Sheppard (1861–1920), a daughter of Joseph Buzby Sheppard, in 1883. * Alice Madeline Jordan (1863–1935), who married the Rev. Arthur Wellesley Foster in 1885; as a wedding present Jordan gifted them Brockhampton Court, near Fownhope in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Death

Jordan died on November 15, 1895, at his residence on

Beacon Street Beacon Street is a major east–west street in Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs of Brookline, Massachusetts, Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, includ ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The Eben Jordan House is located on 46 Beacon Street in

Beacon Hill, Boston Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is also the location of the Massachusetts State House. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature i ...

. In 2000, a petition to grant landmark status to the interior was submitted to the Boston Landmarks Commission; as of 2022, the request is still under study. His daughter Alice Foster built All Saints' Church, Brockhampton as a memorial to her parents; completed in 1902, it was the work of the Arts & Crafts pioneer W. R. Lethaby.

Descendants

Through his son Eben Jr., he was a grandfather of Robert Jordan (1884–1932) and Dorothy Jordan (d. 1976), who married Monroe Douglas Robinson (1887–1944), a son of

Corinne Roosevelt Robinson Corinne Roosevelt Robinson (September 27, 1861 – February 17, 1933) was an American poet, writer and lecturer. She was also the younger sister of President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of First Lady of the United States, ...

and Douglas Robinson Jr. and grandson of Douglas Robinson Sr. and

Theodore Roosevelt Sr. Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (September 22, 1831 – February 9, 1878) was an American businessman and philanthropist from the Roosevelt family. Roosevelt was also the father of President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandfather of First Lady E ...

Robinson was a nephew of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

and a first cousin of First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Eben Dyer 1822 births 1895 deaths American businesspeople in retailing Businesspeople from Maine Businesspeople from Boston People from Auburn, Maine American people of English descent 19th-century American businesspeople The Boston Globe people