Henry and Julia Gordon

Quick Facts

Significance:

Louisiana Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Louisiana (Henry & Julia)

Place of Death:

Henry: Greensburg, St. Helena Parish, LA Julia: Unknown

Date of Death:

Henry: November 5, 1874 Julia: Unknown

Cemetery Name:

Unknown

Henry and Julia were enslaved to Dempsey Kemp Gorman who acquired them, along with their two-year-old daughter Luisa, from his parents David and Rebecca Gorman, on March 25, 1848.

Henry Gordon and Julia Gorman lived as a couple but due to the laws of the day that prevented enslaved people from marrying, they were not married until several years after their emancipation, on March 29, 1869. A year and a half later, on November 18, 1870, Henry traveled to the Land Office of New Orleans to claim a homestead. Henry applied for 35 acres under the Homestead Act of 1862.

Henry paid $7.00 for the application fee and signed with his mark because he had never learned to read or write. Four years later, Henry and Julia with the help of their children had cultivated 25 of the 35 acres, building a kitchen, corn crib, and a stable.

Unfortunately, on November 5, 1874, a little more than a year before the homestead claim was to be finalized, Henry died, leaving Julia with young children and the uncertainty of how she was going to pay the balance of the agreement. With what must have been a tremendously difficult time, Julia pressed forward and completed the homestead requirements.

Dempsey Kemp Gorman, Julia's former enslaver, signed as a witness. Julia paid the final application fee balance of 90 cents to become the rightful owner of 35.92 acres of land on December 21, 1875. Due to the difficulty of traveling to the New Orleans land office, Julia was allowed to sign the final documents at the land office of Greensburg in St. Helena Parish. It was a tremendous accomplishment, but even more amazingly, Julia along with her son Frank and son-in-law Albert Jackson acquired and then sold 130 acres to Dempsey Kemp Gorman in July 1877 for the sum of $1,000.00.

~ contributed by Rex A. Holiday, Ph.D., descendant

About Dr. Rex Holiday

Dr. Rex Allen Holiday, third-great-grandson of Henry and Julia Gordon, is a part-time professor and the author of a book on education. His other occupations include freelance content writer and instructional design consultant. Dr. Holiday is also a research journal reviewer and a reviewer for the National Science Foundation. He currently resides in Utah with his wife Jane, and when he isn't working, he enjoys creative writing and fishing.

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