| Notes |
- Thomas Jordan II
Birth 7 Jul 1634
Isle of Wight County, Virginia, USA
Death 8 Oct 1699 (aged 65)
Suffolk City, Virginia, USA
Burial
Chuckatuck Friends Monthly Meeting
Suffolk, Suffolk City, Virginia, USA
Memorial ID 98348055
Thomas Jordan married Margaret Brashare who was one of the first known converts to the Society of Friends in the Virginia colony. She became a Quakeress in 1658 when she was only sixteen years old. Soon after their marriage in 1660, her husband, Thomas, also converted to the faith.
Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy notes, "Thomas Jordan was probably the most influential Quaker in lower Virginia being a man of position and substance."
In 1661, he was held, as he writes, "in six weeks imprisonment for being taken at a meeting at my own house and released by the King's proclamation." In the same year, Thomas Jordan also "suffered" the following abuses for his Quaker beliefs: ". . . for being taken at a meeting at Robert Lawrence's and bound over to the court of Nansemond for refusing to swear according to their wills and against the commands of Christ, was sent up to Jamestown a prisoner for upwards of ten months. Presently John Blake took away my three servants and left my wife in a distressed condition with a young child at her breast . . . which servant was kept nine weeks and released by order of the Governor. There was taken by John Blake, sheriff of Nansemond, two feather beds, two feather bolsters, and furniture which together with other goods amounted to 3,907 lbs. tobacco and also a serving man who had three years to serve. There was taken by Thomas Godwin, sheriff, ten head of cattle amounting to 5,507 lbs." This testimonial was signed, "Thomas Jordan, Chuckatuck, 1st month, 1661."
Thomas and Margaret Jordan had ten sons:
Thomas (1/6/1660 - )married Elizabeth Burgh.
John (6/17/1663 - )married Margaret Burgh.
James (11/23/1665- )married Elizabeth Ratcliff.
Robert (7/11/1668 - )married Mary Belson.
Richard (6/6/1670 - )married Rebecca Ratcliff.
Joseph, (7/8/1672 - )married Ann ___.
Benjamin (born 7/18/1674 - )married ?.
Matthew (11/1/1676 - )married Dorothy Newby Bufkin.
Samuel (2/15/1679 - )married Elizabeth Fleming. Find a Grave # 116185857
The actual grave site of Thomas Jordan can not be found as Quakers of that era were buried in unmarked graves or with field stones engraved with simple initials. He is listed in the Chuckatuck cenotaph as his death was entered into the Minutes of the Monthly Meeting there.
From Hinshaw's EAQG, Vol. VI, Chuckatuck Monthly Meeting, page 31, 1699, 10, 8.
Thomas Joedan of Chuckatuck in Nansemond Co. in Virginia was b in ye yr 1634 and in ye yr 1660 hee received ye truth & abode faithfull in it & in constant unity with ye faithfull friends thereof & stood in opposition against all wrong & desatefull spirits having suffered ye spoiling of his goods & ye imprisonment of his body for ye truth sake & continued in ye truth unto ye end of his dayes is ye beleefe of us his dear w & ch above written Heedeparted this life ye eight day of ye tenth mo on ye sixth of ye weeke about ye second hour of ye afternoon & was bur ye twelfe day of ye said mo on ye third of ye week in ye yr 1699.
∼Thomas Jordan, II was born in 1634 at Isle of Wight County, VA and later moved to the area that in 1637 became Nansemond Co., VA. Nansemond County, VA, which now is an extinct county, has been the independent city of Suffolk, VA since 1972 (see accompanying 1895 map). Thomas Jordan,II's grandfather was Samuel Jordan (1578-1623), our English gateway immigrant who lived and died at Jordan's Journey in Henrico Co., VA. See the Find A Grave memorial dedicated to Thomas Jordan, I (1600-1644), to read the interesting story of Samuel Jordan (1578-1623).
Nansemond County was named for the Nansemond tribe of Indians. When the English colonists arrived in 1607, they discovered the Nansemond living along the Nansemond River, a tributary of the James River.
In 1669, 35 year old Thomas Jordan, II married 27 year old Margaret Brasheur (one of many spellings of her maiden name), the daughter of Robert Brasheur, a French Huguenot immigrant (see caption on accompanying historical marker) who had settled in Nansemond and had also become a Quaker. On 12 April 1653, Robert Brasheur received a land patent for 1200 acres on the southern branch of the Nansemond River resulting from transporting himself, his wife, and his children, together with nine other would-be colonists to Virginia (headrights).
In March 1660, due to a well developed Quaker movement, the General Assembly of Virginia passed strict laws prohibiting Quakers from coming into the province of Virginia. At the time, Thomas Jordan, II patented land near his home at Chuckatuck, Nansemond. The Quakers were attracting attention because of their stubborn opposition to some of the established laws in the Colony. NOTE: The attached excerpt of the minutes from a Suffolk City, Chuckatuck, Nansemond County, Western Branch, Somerton Quaker meeting concerns Thomas Jordan, II. It confirms his birth and death years. It also indicates he became a Quaker in 1660.
Thomas Jordan, II probably embraced this new faith due to the influence of his wife, Margaret. He began being spoken of, in the Monthly Quaker Meetings, as Thomas Jordan of Chuckatuck. As a prominent Quaker, he subsequently endured all of the persecutions visited upon the Quakers. He was imprisoned six months for being at a meeting at his own house. From this imprisonment he was released by the King's Proclamation, only to be taken a second time at a meeting at Robert Lawrence's home, and bound over to court. At court he refused to "swear" (take an oath), so was sent to Jamestown and held as a prisoner for ten months.
While imprisoned at Jamestown, authorities took three servants from his home and restrained them for nine weeks. They also took beds and other goods amounting to the value of 3907 pounds of tobacco. A serving man and 10 cattle valued at 5507 pounds of tobacco were also taken. (See Weeks, Stephen Beauregard, 1865-1918, "Southern Quaker and Slavery", 1896, p26)
In 1698, Thomas Story, a follower of William Penn (a Quaker), came to Virginia and recorded in his journal that he lodged with Thomas Jordan of Chuckatuck.
Thomas and Margaret lived good lives and were blessed with twelve children, only one of whom didn't follow the "faith".
The children of Thomas and Margaret (Brasheur) Jordan were"
1) Thomas Jordan III b. 06 Jan 1660
2) John Jordan b. 17 Jun 1663
3) James Jordan b. 23 Nov 1665
4) Robert Jordan b. 11 Jul 1668
5) Richard Jordan b. 06 Jun 1670
6) Joseph Jordan b. 08 Jul 1672
7) Benjamin Jordan b. 18 Jul 1674
8) Matthew Jordan b. 01 Nov 1676
9) Samuel Jordan b. 15 Feb 1679 (Named after his grandfather, Samuel Jordan [1578-1623])
10) Joshua Jordan b. June 1681
11) Elizabeth Jordan
12) Margaret Jordan
"In spite of all of the persecutions Thomas (Jordan, II) had to endure, he abode faithful to his religious belief until ye end of his days". Thomas died 08 Oct 1699 and was buried in Nansemond Co., VA.
Sources:
1) "These Jordans Were Here" by Octavia Jordan Perry, 1969, pp35-42, 64-67.
2) "Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5" by John Frederick Dorman, 4th Ed., Vol. II, 2005, pp365-366.
3) "John Pankey of Manakin Town, Virginia, and his Descendants" by George Edward Pankey, Vol. I, 1969, p428.
4) "The Harrisons of Skimino" Edited by Fairfax Harrison, 1910, pp24-32.
Bio by Gresham Farrar.∼His father was Thomas Jordan (1)* and his Mother may have been Lucy Corker.
His birth was in either Isle of Wight or Nansemond County, and lived in Chuckatank, Virginia. He married Margaret Brasseur, before 1660, in Isle of Wight or Nansemond County.
Margaret was born Sept 1642 and died 7 Dec 1708. Thomas became a Quaker at the time of his marriage. Margaret had become a Quaker at age 16. As Quakers they suffered from the efforts of the Governor to enforce the 1662 Act of the Legislature to suppress the Quaker sect. Thomas and Margaret had 10 sons.
Children: Thomas, John, James, Robert, Richard*, Joseph, Benjamin, Matthew, Samuel and Joshua.
(*) These individuals have memorials posted by Paul Theodore Riegert.
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1634 - 1699 (65 years)
