Gordon (Family : Savannah, Ga.)

<objectXMLWrap>
<container xmlns="">
<filename>/data/source/findingAids/unc/02235.xml</filename>
<ead_entity en_type="famname">Gordon</ead_entity>
</container>
</objectXMLWrap>

The Gordon family of Savannah, Ga., included W. W. Gordon (William Washington) (1834-1912), lawyer, Confederate Army officer, cotton merchant, state legislator, and brigadier general during the Spanish-American War of 1898; his wife, Eleanor Lytle Kinzie Gordon (Nelly) (1835-1917); her mother, Juliette Magill Kinzie (Mrs. John) of Chicago, author; and the children of W. W. and Nelly, especially G. Arthur Gordon (Arthur) (1872-1941), cotton merchant and civic leader of Savannah; Juliette Gordon Low (Daisy) (1860-1927), founder of the Girl Scouts; and Mabel Gordon Leigh, who lived in England and was honored for her relief work during World War I. The collection includes correspondence, account books, and other materials, 1810-1941, documenting more than a century of personal, business, political, military, and civic activity of the Gordon family. Many items relate to W. W. Gordon's family life, Confederate Army service, cotton trade and activities with various cotton regulatory agencies, and military and diplomatic service during the Spanish American War. Besides extensive and detailed business correspondence relating to the buying and selling of South Carolina cotton, there is a large run of account books documenting transactions of W. W. Gordon & Company and its predecessor cotton factor and commission merchant firms. Family materials include much correspondence between Nelly Gordon and her mother in Chicago. During the Civil War, these letters show the anxiety and fear engendered in family members separated because of the struggle. Also included are several letters documenting the great Chicago fire of 1871 and its aftermath. There are also letters relating to the death of daughter Alice while she and Nelly were alone in New York, and others relating to Nelly's difficult relationship with Daisy, who struggled with deafness as a child. Papers relating to G. Arthur Gordon reflect his cotton merchant activities; interests in local and national politics, including correspondence with brother-in-law, Richard Wayne Parker, lawyer and long-time New Jersey congressman; Gordon's involvement in civic clubs and in the Georgia State Troops; and his position as chief confidant of his parents and sisters in family struggles. While there are some Juliette Gordon Low papers relating to the Girl Scouts, among them correspondence with Robert Baden-Powell, most items relating to Daisy document her life in England, her unhappy marriage to William Mackay Low (Willie), and the economic consequences of his death as the couple tottered on the brink of a divorce spurred by Willie's infidelity. Mabel Gordon Leigh's papers relate chiefly to family affairs and to her World War I relief activities. The letters written by Margaret Gordon Seiler (Peggy), daughter of George Arthur Gordon, and her husband, the Reverend Robert S. Seiler, relate to their five-year posting to Manila, Philippines, with Church World Service, 1963-1968.

<objectXMLWrap>
<container xmlns="">
<filename>/data/source/findingAids/unc/02235.xml</filename>
<ead_entity en_type="famname" encodinganalog="100">Gordon family.</ead_entity>
</container>
</objectXMLWrap>