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Isaac M. Jordan

Isaac M. Jordan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885
Preceded byThomas L. Young
Succeeded byCharles Elwood Brown
Personal details
Born
Isaac Alfred Jordan

(1835-05-05)May 5, 1835
Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, US
DiedDecember 3, 1890(1890-12-03) (aged 55)
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Resting placeSpring Grove Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materMiami University
OccupationLawyer

Isaac M. Jordan, born Isaac Alfred Jordan, (May 5, 1835 – December 3, 1890) was a United States Congressman and lawyer. He was also a founding member of Sigma Chi fraternity.

Early life

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Isaac Alfred Jordan was born on May 5, 1835, in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania.[1][2][3]: 1  His parents were Sarah (nee Smith) and Amos Jordan.[3]: 1  He was the youngest of eleven children.[2][3]: 1  His family moved to Springfield, Ohio in 1837.[1] When he was around fourteen years old, his family moved to West Liberty, Ohio.[3]: 2  He attended the Common Schools in Springfield and West Liberty, followed by two years at Geneva Hall in Northwood, Ohio, graduating in 1854.[1][2][3]: 2–3 

Jordan attended Miami University and joined the Kappa chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon, along with his childhood friend Benjamin Piatt Runkle.[4][5][6] When a disagreement arose within the fraternity chapter, Jordan and Runkle joined five other men who formed a new fraternity, Sigma Phi, on June 28, 1855.[4] Sigma Phi later became known as Sigma Chi.[4] Jordan was the chapter's consul primus or presiding officer in the spring 1856 semester and the orator of the fraternity's first Grand Chapter meeting in 1857.[3]: 10 Jordan also belonged to the Erodelphian Literary Society.[3]: 3 

Jordan graduated from Miami University with an A.B. in 1857.[1][6] He then studied law in the Dayton, Ohio law office of his brothers Jackson A. Jordan and Nathan E. Jordan.[3]: 4  He was admitted to the bar in 1858.[1][3]: 4  He received an A.M. from Miami University in 1862.[6]

Career

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In 1858, Jordan practiced law in Dayton, Ohio with his brothers in the firm Jordan & Jordan.[2][1][3]: 4  During that time, he changed his middle initial to M (meaning nothing in particular) to distinguish himself from his brother, as he thought people would confuse J. A. and I. A. Jordan.[3]: 4  He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1860 where he worked for Judge Thomas M. Key.[3]: 5  He then worked with Thomas Washington, followed by Flamen Ball, U.S. District Attorney.[2][3]: 5  In 1864, he formed a law firm with his brother Nathan E. Jordan.[2][3]: 6  Later, Homer Jordan, Joseph W. O'Hara, and Jordan Thomas (his nephew) joined the firm, with became Jordan & Jordans.[2][1]

In 1882, he was elected as a Democrat to the 48th United States Congress for the first district of Ohio, a Republican district.[1][2] He declined to run for reelection for business reasons (his brother Jackson died leaving a vacancy at the law firm)[3]: 6  and only served one term, from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885.[1][2] He, then, returned to his law practice in Cincinnati.[1][2]

Personal life

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Jordan married Elizabeth Phelps, the daughter of an attorney in Covington, Kentucky on May 5, 1863.[2][7][3]: 6  The couple had five children; two died in childhood.[2][3]: 6 

In 1881, Jordan helped established the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi.[3]: 9  During his speech in 1884 at the 15th Grand Chapter, he explained the standard by which all pledges and brothers should be judged, which is now known as the Jordan Standard.[5][8]

Jordan died on December 3, 1890, from injuries received from falling down an open elevator shaft in Cincinnati.[1][9] He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Jordan, Isaac M. 1835 – 1890". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "A Fatal Step. Tragic Fat of Hon. I. M. Jordan". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1890-12-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Nate, Joseph Cookman (1930). "Isaac M. Jordan". The history of the Sigma Chi Fraternity 1855-1930. Vol. 3. Sigma Chi Fraternity. Retrieved July 20, 2025 – via Hathi Trust.
  4. ^ a b c Shepardson, Francis Wayland, ed. Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, 12th edition. Menasha, Wisconsin: The Collegiate Press/George Banta Publishing Company, 1930. pp. 198. via Hathi Trust.
  5. ^ a b "Isaac M. Jordan". Sigma Chi Fraternity. 2012-02-06. Archived from the original on 2014-06-25. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Isaac M. Jordan". The Norman Shield 2021-2023, 49th edition. Sigma Chi Fraternity, 2021. p. 114-115l.
  7. ^ "Death of Mrs. Jordan". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1903-06-06. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "The Jordan Standard". The Norman Shield 2021-2023, 49th edition. Sigma Chi Fraternity, 2021. p. 44.
  9. ^ "Hon. Isaac M. Jordan is Killed by Falling through a Hatchway this Morning". The Dayton Herald. 1890-12-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
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