Garth Wilkinson "Wilkie" James established a cotton plantation in Gordon after the Civil War. James was a younger brother of Henry James and William James, and an abolitionist. He served as an officer with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in the Civil War and was severely wounded at the Battle of Fort Wagner. He returned to service with the 54th before the end of the war, when the regiment was in Florida. After the Civil War, John Murray Forbes, a staunch abolitionist and a friend of Wilkie James' father, Henry James Sr., advocated the development of cotton farming in the South using the labor of freedmen. With funds from Forbes and from his father, James began buying largely undeveloped land in Gordon in February 1866. He eventually spent $40,000 for about of land, which was then cleared and planted in cotton. James' aunt, Catherine James Temple, also invested in the plantation, but most of the funds came from Henry James Sr., eventually taking a large part of his wealth.