THE PICKELLS AND JORDAN FAMILIES IN HAMILTON IN SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES

Narrator: Mrs. Hattie Jordan, 79, of Hamilton, Missouri

Jordan the Piano and Organ Man

The Old Phoenix Hotel

Mrs. Jordan is the widow of William Jordan, a Hamilton Merchant over fifty years ago and the daughter of George Pickell and Rebecca Miller of Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Her father was a brother of Wm. Pickell and her mother was a sister of Mary Miller his wife. Thus Mrs. Jordan is a double cousin of Wm. Pickell aged 88 of Hamilton. Her father lived one half mile from Bart in Lancaster County Pennsylvania and after his death the Mother and children moved to Lancaster City. In 1872 the family came to Hamilton. Her brother George was already here on a farm near Nettleton. Three brothers out of five lived here - George, who later quit farming and became town marshall; Wm., a produce dealer; and Ben, who was in a music store with her husband.

Her mother rented the last house on Bird Street north side now owned by George Bretz and later bought the little house east of Seth Young's house. Mrs. Jordon lived there till her marriage. After she became the wife of Mr. Jordan, they lived in with Aunty Smith (who used to be a well known Bible teacher here) in the house still known at the Aunty Smith house. There her daughter Mrs. Maud Turner was born.

Mrs. Jordan was a Davy Ferguson pupil, in the old north brick school. Some of her class mates were: Addie (Martin) George, Wilda Rohrbough, Genoa and Mattie Claypool (Aunts of Mrs. Mollie Wines).

Her husband Wm. Jordan was a lawyer by study, passing the Ohio Examinations 1878. But because of his health he came to Hamilton in 1880 and began to sell pianos and organs. He and she used to ride around the country and leave an organ in a home on trial for a week or so in hopes of a sale. He had his own brand of organs, The Jordan Organ. Mr. Jordan owned the old Phoenix Hotel on Main Street and had his show rooms there for a while. This building was the only three-story building ever erected in Hamilton. It was once the Kelso building. In the late seventies Mr. Jordan rented the whole building to the Harvey family who kept a Dry Goods Store on the ground floor had their living rooms on the second floor and their sleeping rooms on the third floor. Later the Harveys built a brick directly across the street and lived above the store. This was about where the Lindley building is.

The Jordans owned quite a frontage on north Main in the eighties, from the present McMasters through the site of the Missouri Store. After her husbands death, Mrs. Jordan sold the old buildings to Finis Martin who tore it down and built two houses in town out of the lumber.