Jefferson County Illinois
Biographies
 

Miles Jordan 

Source: The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, 
Pleasant Grove Twp.
by Union Historical Company
Page 736
Submitted By: Cindy Ford

JORDAN, Hon. MILES—Retired merchant, Pleasantville. Was born 
in Jefferson county, Illinois, December 5, 1821, and lived there until 1830, 
id then removed to Quincy. His early life was spent on a farm. At the .
it-break of the Mexican War he enlisted in the First regiment Illinois 
infantry, and was at the battle of Buena Vista under Gen. Taylor. After his
discharge from the army he returned home, and in 1847 came to Iowa 
and settled in this township, and he was the first school teacher in the 
township after the passage of the school law. The school building was the
typical school building of the pioneer days, built of logs with puncheon 
floors and seats and openings covered with greased paper to admit the light 
He was one of the county commissioners, and one of the first justices of the peace, 
and while holding this office performed the first marriage ceremony in the county, 
the contracting parties were Jesse B. Glenn and Sarah Johnson. He has represented 
the county in the General Assembly of the State Legislature. He was for many years 
a partner in the first store opened in Pleasantville, and few men have' seen more 
years of active service than Mr. Jordan. He came to the county with limited means, 
his worldly effects consisting of a horse and a land warrant received for his services 
in the Mexican War, and he is a good illustration of what an industrious man can accomplish 
by industry, economy and honesty. As a citizen he has always taken an active part in 
whatever has had a tendency to promote the interest of the township, and the rising 
generation have but a faint idea of how much they are indebted to such sturdy pioneers 
as Mr. Jordan. He married Mary Sheppard, a native of North Carolina, in 1848. Their 
family consists of six children: Millie (now Mrs. Dr. Duncan), Melissa A. (now Mrs. Prince), 
Emma (now Mrs. Evans), Margaret (now Mrs. De "WittV Winfield S. 
(a student in the Iowa State University), and Sadie L. 




 



 






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