|
14 j
<br /> NPS Form 10-900-a - OMB App,avd No.1024-0018
<br /> (8-861
<br /> United States Department of the Interior
<br /> National Park Service •
<br /> National Register of Historic Places
<br /> Continuation Sheet
<br /> Section number 8 Page
<br /> Dr.Arch Jordan House
<br /> Orange County,North Carolina
<br /> manufactured goods in more affluent ones.$ Robert C.Kenzer,in his study of Orange County from 1849 to
<br /> 1881,noted that in both antebellum and post-war Orange County rural society,the general store served as a
<br /> vital economic and social center for rural neighborhoods. Such stores were often run,as in the Jordan's
<br /> case,by a local wealthy family.9 A history of the Jordan family confirms that the Jordan Brothers' Store
<br /> was a gathering place for Academy students,locals,and travelers,and that traveling salesmen would often
<br /> spend the night in Dr.Jordan's guest room.10
<br /> Dr.Jordan was also a ruling elder in the nearby Little River Presbyterian Church. In this small
<br /> community settled largely by Scots-Irish migrants,the church served as a central social institution. Kenzer
<br /> concluded that the church was"probably the most important social institution in the lives of Orange
<br /> [County]'s families"and"played an important role in preserving the bonds between families and promoting
<br /> cohesion in the neighborhood,"citing several examples from the history of the Little River Presbyterian
<br /> Church.11 Dr.Jordan's house became even more firmly linked to the local Presbyterian church when Dr.
<br /> Jordan moved his family to Durham in 1904 and sold the house to the church for use as its manse.12 It was
<br /> used as a manse for three local Presbyterian churches--the Little River Presbyterian church,the Fairfield
<br /> Presbyterian church, and the Eno Presbyterian church--until the church sold it in 1929 to William Thomas
<br /> McKee.13 Presbyterian ministers C.M.Arrowood and William S.Wilhelm both occupied the house,
<br /> serving the Little River,Eno,and Cedar Grove communities, and conducting services that would rotate
<br /> among the three churches.
<br /> Both Dr.Jordan and the Presbyterian ministers,although not farmers themselves,utilized the
<br /> acreage associated with the property for farming. According to available census records,Dr.Jordan
<br /> boarded a man named William Smith,who was employed by Jordan as a"farm laborer." Similarly,the
<br /> 1920 census, although noting the occupation of the Rev.William S.Wilhelm as"minister"and the general
<br /> nature of his work as"preaching,"nevertheless characterized the property as a"farm"rather than merely a
<br /> "house,"and referenced the agricultural schedule number which detailed the farm's produce.l4
<br /> Rural communities in turn-of-the-century Orange County were often isolated and tight-knit,
<br /> springing up and centering around the crucial institutions of post offices,churches,schools,and general
<br /> 8 Mattson,"History and Architecture of Orange County,"38; 6..
<br /> 9 Robert C.Kenzer,Kinship and Neighborhood in a Southern Community:Orange County,North Carolina. 1849-
<br /> 1881 (Knoxville:University of Tennessee Press, 1987),36-38; 113-14.
<br /> 10 Octavia Jordan Perry;These Jordans Were Here(Provo,Utah: J.Grant Stevenson, 1969), 187.
<br /> 1l Kenzer,Kinship and Neighborhood, 11-12.
<br /> 12 Deed Book 58: 599(October 3, 1905),Orange County,North Carolina.
<br /> 13 Deed Book 59:95 (April 17, 1906)and Deed Book 94:38(December 1, 1929),Orange County,North Carolina.
<br /> 14 U.S.Census,Population Schedules,North Carolina, 1900,Orange County,Little River Township,District 5:71,
<br /> Sheet 12; U.S. Census,Population Schedules,North Carolina, 1910,Orange County,Little River Township,
<br /> District 204:170, Sheet 13. -
<br />
|