Samuel Jordan

Quick Facts

Significance:

Florida Homesteader

Place of Birth:

North Carolina

Date of Birth:

1836

Samuel Jordan married Alice Harris on June 28th, 1866. Samuel and Alice lived in Gadsden County at the time of his homestead application.

Samuel was thirty years old when he submitted his homestead application #43 at the Land Office in Tallahassee, Florida on September 10th, 1866, for forty acres in Sawdust, Gadsden County, Florida.

Samuel submitted his testimony in support of his homestead application on December 29th, 1871. The witnesses were Harry West and James Tomerlin. They testified that they had known Samuel for five years.

Samuel made the land his exclusive home on February 15th, 1867. He later settled the land with his family on February 15th, 1871. He plowed, fenced, and cultivated eight acres of the land. Samuel improved the land by building his house, stables, smokehouse, and corn crib.

He received his homestead patent certificate #7 on January 6th, 1873. Samuel signed his name with an X.

At the time of his patent, Samuel was head of his family which consisted of his wife and four children. The 1870 census revealed that Alice Jordan (26) and his children Richard (13), Bedie (7), Alartin Jordan (4), John (4), Laura Jordan (four months), and his mother Hattie (65). His personal real estate value is listed at $600.

After establishing his Homestead Certificate, the 1880 census listed his household with his wife Alice (37), Laura (11), Louisa (8), Jesse (4) Reubin (1), and his mother Hattie. In total, Alice bore 11 children.

Samuel’s homestead remained in his family. In the 1900s, Samuel was listed as the owner of his farm. Although the exact date is unknown, Samuel Jordan passed away between 1900 and 1910. In 1910, Alice was listed as a widow and owner of their farm. By 1920, Samuel’s youngest son, Rubin, was the owner of their farm and lived with Alice, his wife, and his children.

Patent Details - BLM GLO Records

~ Contributed by Falan Olivia Goff

Falan Olivia Goff
Photo Credit: F. Goff

More about the contributor: Falan Olivia Goff is a genealogist/family historian. She is an active member of the Mobile Creole Cultural and Historical Preservation Society. She is a 2x graduate of Florida A&M University with her Master of Science in Agriculture.

Falan works for the United States Department of Agriculture. She has always been drawn to connecting family history, agriculture, and ancestral lands. Falan's primary goal is to continue to educate and connect families through her work with genealogy. She is vested in bridging the gap between agriculture and family history. Her primary areas of research are along the Gulf Coast from Bayou Lafourche and Orleans Parrish, La, Mobile, AL, and Apalachicola, FL.