The Newtown bee., 1904-01-29
Dr James w. Cor
 don.
HIS DEATH OCCURRED
 ON TUESDAY.
A Useful and Valued Citizen.

Dr James w. Gordon, who had been in failing health for some months, died on Tuesday morning, at about l1.25 The best medical attention and nursing, and the loving ministratlons of members of the home circle, could not stay the progress of the disease, and so he yielded up life.
 pr Gordon's departure leaves real vacancy in Sandy Hook and in the town. His services on the Board of Education and the High School com mittee commended him to the high regard of the best people of the town. In local matters in Sandy Hook he was fearless and independent in his action, being governed by the principle of public good.
 In his practice as physician, faith full attention to his business, coupled with his knowledge and skill as a practitioner, had it's reward in a con- Stantly increasing practice. So true was he to the interests of his pro- fession, that up to within few weeks of his death he kept at work, although really unable to do so.
 The Gordon family has held a prom inent place in Scottish history. and the branch to which pr Gordon be- lOnged has been identified with the city of Glasgow, Scotland, for many gener- atiOnS.
 pr Alexander Gordon, grandfather of the deceased, was a native of that city, and although he served as sur geon in the English army previous to his marriage, he afterWard engaged successfully in general practice there, and at one time he owned two apoth- ecary shops in the city.
 A tinge of romance surrounds his marriage, as his wife, Elizabeth Helen Gordon, was member of the Catholic branch of the family, while he was a Protestant in religious faith, and the opposition of the lady's brothers, John w., George and Charles, formed for a time a serious obstacle to the union. About 1848 he came to America, leav- ing his wife and children in Glasgow, and for five years he was not heard from. Hoping to gain some Knowledge of him, his wife disposed of their prop erty and followed him to this country, with five of their six children, the eldest son remaining in Madrid, where he was attending college at the time. After a short period they located in this county, in Newtown, where the wife and mother died in 1853. Of the six children, John, the eldest, our subjects father, is mentioned more fully below. William married Mar garet Egan, and made his home at Newtown; James enlisted when IS years old in the Union army, and met soldiers death at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863; Georgiana married John Ennis of AnsOnia; Elizabeth married Edward Egan of Newtown, and Ina married William Baum of New Haven.
 John Gordon, the father of our sub ject, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1882, and was carefully educated, hay ing the advantage of study in several followed the family to America, but as he did not know where any of them were to be found, he was in sore per plexity for time. On landing In New York City he called upon James Cor don Bennett, who had been friend and college chum at Paris; but his re- ceptiOn was not as cordial as he had expected. He then turned his atten- tiOn to the search of his family, and found them at NewtOwn, where he re- mained some eight months. He then joined the regular army, and from 1852 to 1857 served as scout on the frontier. On his return to the East he learned of his mothers death, and after three months sojOurn he went South. At one time while in Texas he found him. as cattle drOver he worked his way to St Louis, Mo-, where he entered the ordnance corps at the arsenal. Being an accomplished linguist, speaking German, French and Spanish as well as English, he was appointed, at the outbreak of the Civil War, to the charge of all equipment issued from the department at St~LOuiS to the de- partment of the Southwest and the forces under Generals Grant nd Sher- man, which position he held until the close of the war, with the rank or ser geant. When peace was restored he took charge of girls numbering about 200 whose duties were to remove the powder and balls from millions of car | tridges, and he continued this work | until his death, which occurred Janu- ary 4, 1867. In 1861, while residing in St Louis, he came East and married | Miss Margaret Colgan, native of Westmeath, Ireland, whose father, James COlgaD, was teacher in the national school there, and who died in the year 1863 at NewtOwn.
 Our subject, who was the only child l December P, 1862. After his fathers death his mother brought him to New. town, arriving in August, 1868, and from his sixth to his 18th year he at tended the pubic schools of the town. In the meantime his mother married a second husband, Joseph Lavery. In the fall of 1877 Dr Gordon entered St Charles college, at Ellicott City, Md, near Baltimore, and after completing a three-years' course there he pursued his studies at St Johns college at
 Fordham, N. Y., where he received the degree of A. B. in 1885. He then be-
 gan his preparation for the medical
 profession in theioffice of the late Dl
 Robert Hubbard of Bridgeport, and in October, 1885, he entered the medica
 department of the University of New | York, where he attended lectures fol
 three winters, his vacations being
 spent in study with pr Hubbard. IT
 1888, after securing the degree of M
 D., he took the civil service examina
 tion for a position on the staff of physi
 clans attached to the asylums of Nev
 York City, and, the result being satis
 factory, he obtained the coveted post
 and at the end of the first year wa
 promoted to the rank of first assistant
 The work afforded most valuable op
 portunities for gaining professiona
 knowledge and skill, and after tw
 years and half he resigned to engag
 in private practice in Bridgeport AS might be expected in the case o , one of his attachments, he met wit success from the start, and during hi stay there he served as physician t [ the county jail for two years, and a
 one of the staff of the Emergency hos s pital for three years. On July l5, 1S9; [. he opened an office in Sandy Hooh