caption death_date death_place birth_place name birth_date image article_title birth_name
author to his old master '' of the 1865 '' letter from a freedman 15 april 1907 dayton , usa tennessee , usa jourdon anderson december 1825 jordan anderson image.jpg jordan anderson
 jourdon anderson
jordan anderson

jordan anderson or jourdon anderson -lrb- december 1825 -- april 15 , 1907 -rrb- was an african-american former slave noted for a letter he dictated , known as `` letter from a freedman to his old master '' .
it was addressed to his former master , colonel p. h. anderson , in response to the colonel 's request that jordan return to the plantation to help restore the farm after the disarray of the war .
it has been described as a rare example of documented `` slave humor '' of the period and its deadpan style has been compared to the satire of mark twain .
