Samuel Jordan
Samuel Jordan (died 1623) was an early settler and ancient planter of colonial Jamestown. He arrived in Virginia around 1610, and served as a Burgess in the first representative legislative session in North America. Jordan patented a plantation known as Jordan's Journey (a.k.a. 'Beggar's Bush'), which became a safe haven and stronghold for settlers during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War that ensued after the Powhatan surprise attack of 1622. Jordan died in 1623. After his death, the control of Jordan's Journey was uncertain: his widow Cecily Jordan became involved in the first breach-of-promise  dispute in North America, the suit filed by Rev. Greville Pooley. Cecily Jordan won the case, then married William Farrar; her daughters with Jordan inherited Jordan's Journey. Early life and arrival in New World. Samuel Jordan came to Virginia sometime around 1610, as his 1620 patent mentions him as having lived ten years in the colony. Samuel Jordan's early life is uncertain. Alexander Brown suggests "he was probably married more than once". Some authors state that he had three sons from a first wife who were born in England: Robert, Samuel, and Thomas. Though the genealogist John Dorman  does not mention either Robert or Samuel, he does acknowledge the possibility that Thomas Jordan, who arrived in Virginia at age 18 aboard "Diana" in 1619, could be Samuel's son from an earlier marriage in England; however, he also points out there is no conclusive evidence to establish this relation. Role in Virginia government. When Deputy-Governor George Yeardley called the first representative legislative assembly in Virginia in 1619, Jordan served as a Burgess on behalf of Charles City. During this first meeting, Jordan also served on the committee of readers for the Great Charter, which been recently received  from the Virginia Company and had authorized the assembly. As a privilege granted by the Great Charter, Jordan also became an ancient planter, which entitled him to 100 acres of land. Marriage to Cecily. Sometime before 1620, Jordan married Cecily, who had arrived in Virginia around 1611 and was around 18 when they married.