Welcome to the Jordan House

Welcome to the Jordan House. . , Pioneers for Emancipation , The man who built this house was James Cunningham Jordan (1813–1891). He and his wife Melinda were the earliest settlers in Walnut Township, Iowa (now West Des Moines). When he was thirty-three Mr. Jordan built a log cabin for his young family just southeast of here, but within the next 20 years constructed this much larger frame house. He finished the front of it in 1850 and in 1870 built the large addition now comprising the back or west side. Jordan was a successful farmer, livestock dealer, and bank director. He supported the Methodist Episcopal Church and belonged to the Republican Party, which, under Abraham Lincoln, drew it first breath opposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act., James Jordan despised slavery, spoke vehemently against it, and was directly involved in sheltering and aiding fugitive slaves. He was a quiet, modest man who was as much known for his gruff voice as he was for the kindness and generosity he brought to all who came to know him. Iowans in those days knew that involvement in the Underground Railroad was dangerous...and illegal. Many wanted to avoid involvement in the slavery issue and keep black settlement out of the state altogether, while others saw Iowa standing strong as a beacon of anti-slavery hope., On February 17, 1859, Abolitionist John Brown led 13 men, women, and children from enslavement in western Missouri to the Jordan homestead. A rural Iowa hamlet known as Civil Bend, just upriver from Nebraska City, was an Underground Railroad stop, and from there Brown brought these refugees a bit closer to emancipation. Proceeding from there the group rested overnight in a stand of timber near the Jordan farm, and the next day traveled to Hawley's farm east of Des Moines. Their three-month journey took them to Grinnell, Iowa City and, eventually to Detroit. In late summer they ferried across the Detroit River to freedom in Windsor, Canada., In that same year, on October 16, 1859, John Brown and an 18-man "army of liberation" raided the Federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hoping to seize a supply of weapons and spark a rebellion of the slaves. Brown was subsequently captured, found guilty of treason, and hanged on December 2, 1859. Brown's bold action ignited great controversy and became the catalyst for America's Civil War., Local pioneer James Jordan , Jordan House in the late 1800s. , Abolitionist John Brown, Underground Railroad in Iowa , The John Brown Freedom Trail