By Diane Euston
To piece together the past of early African American leaders just past emancipation can be difficult due to the lack of records pre-1865. In fact, a lot of the time, the formerly enslaved who were finally freed weren’t counted in early census records or were missed completely in any records available today.
In other words, census takers purposely ignored these U.S. citizens, city directory employees didn’t bother to list them and newspapers rarely reported positive news about them.
These challenges plague genealogists and historians hellbent on trying to tell these incredible stories of survival, and oftentimes due to unavailability of records, the stories we do have began after the Civil War.
Tenacity, survival and adversity were characteristics that likely flowed through the veins of the early Black leaders in our area.
One family made a name for themselves for generations, and even today, the utterance of the name “Leon Jordan” brings back memories of a man who fought fearlessly for freedom, equality at the polls and for representation at the state level.
In fact, Leon Jordan (b.1905) was murdered for his advocacy in 1970. But the political organization Freedom, Inc. he co-founded with Bruce R. Watkins (1924-1980) exists today.
This Leon Jordan, born in 1905 in Kansas City, Mo. is a story in and of itself. But what really sparked my interest was the legacy that came before him- a story of leadership of a marginalized population well before he entered the scene.
How I discovered this story is an interesting glimpse at how I do research and how the stories I tell surface.
Starting With Jo Shelby’s Controversial Hire
I am always excited and more than willing to tell the stories of powerful and inspiring African Americans from our past, and I try to not just tell these stories during Black History Month. Frankly, the story of African Americans is a story of American history, not segmented to one month of the year.
Years ago, I learned that Confederate General Jo Shelby (1830-1897) made some surprising decisions after the Civil War.
Known for “Shelby’s Last Stand,” at current-day Forest Hill Cemetery, Gen. Jo Shelby was loyal to the Confederate cause- including the enslavement of human beings.
He was memorialized in Lost Cause narratives and praised for his bravery. But many people don’t know what he did after returning to Missouri well past the end of the Civil War.
In 1893, Jo Shelby was named by President Grover Cleveland as U.S. Marshal of the Western District of Missouri. He was 62 years old, and one of his first hires was a “colored barber” named Leon H. Jordan.
The Civil War was less than three decades old, so appointing a Black man as a deputy- especially coming from one of the staunchest and most revered generals in Missouri- was absolute madness.
Gen. Shelby expressed much regret for his positions during the Border Wars, even later embracing the heroism of controversial anti-slavery figures such as John Brown.
Marshal Shelby was willing to raise his arms again in the fight for his appointed Black deputy, Leon H. Jordan, a well-respected man who came from a line of powerful, well-respected pedigree worth exploring.
The story for me began years ago when I recognized the name Leon Jordan and I quickly confirmed that Leon Jordan, the first Black deputy marshal appointed by a former Confederate general, was related to the Leon Jordan who graced headlines during the Civil Rights movement in Kansas City.
The story of the Jordans came to life, and their origins, well before the Civil War.
A Steamboat Barber and Leavenworth Resident
The story truly begins with the patriarch of the Jordan family. Samuel Jordan was born in 1833, most likely in Virginia. One account stated that he “came West when a young man.” Whether or not he was ever enslaved remains a mystery, but by the 1850s, he’d made a name for himself on the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
Trained as a barber, Sam Jordan worked aboard steamboats. There, he became acquainted with Jo Shelby who used to get a close shave “on his trips to St. Joseph.”
That relationship would later come to matter to his family’s prominence in the growing African American community of Kansas City.
During the golden age of steamboat travel, Sam Jordan was found floating from St. Louis to New Orleans. Later, he made trips from St. Louis to Leavenworth up the Missouri River.
By 1860, Sam Jordan had settled in Leavenworth, Kan. where he worked at his own barber shop in the old Planters Hotel. He later went into business for himself and purchased a home at 311 Pottawattomie.
There in Leavenworth, Sam met and married Kate Frazier (b. 1846) in 1864.
One of the few people of color at the time in Leavenworth, Kate and Sam both had a pedigree that set them aside from others of their race.
For one, both of them could read and write. And Kate’s mother, Sallie Frazier, was a pioneer in her own right. Born in 1826 likely in Tennessee, Sallie was enslaved by Native Americans. It’s unknown which tribe or where she was located due to lack of records prior to the turn of the last century.
But Sallie was free, along with her children (three boys and one girl), well before the Civil War. After living in Leavenworth, Sallie relocated after her daughter married Sam Jordan to Dodge City, Kan., founded in 1872, where it was said her “veins flowed the blood of many races.”
Sallie was an entrepreneur in Dodge City, operating “a fully integrated restaurant patronized by cowboys, merchants, dance hall girls and permanent white residents.” Aunt Sallie, as the Dodge City community called her, was “the veteran cook of the west” and “one of the old landmarks of the frontier.” She also ran a boarding house for a time.
Sam, too, was an entrepreneur. He developed quite the client list in his Leavenworth barber shop where he specialized in “tonsorizing,” a term sometimes used to indicate a close, smooth shave. He was described as a good dresser who was “gay and festive, a high stepper and always nobby.” His shaves, the Leavenworth Times reported, would “bow you out with an ease and grace that would put a blush on a French dancing master all the way from Paris, and you would be perfectly satisfied and surely call again.”
He was also proficient in all card games – a skill certainly utilized in barber shops where they’d sometimes more so function as a saloon.
The profession of barber led to unique opportunities for Black men during this time period, especially if their business catered to white patrons. This was the case for Sam Jordan; his business wasn’t integrated. He ran his own business that catered to the white elite, allowing him the unique opportunity to develop personal relationships with white men such as Jo Shelby.
As a local leader of the Black population, Sam was elected to the Kansas State Colored Convention during the Civil War. And, when Gen. Sterling Price’s raid worked its way across Missouri and threatened nearby Kansas in the fall of 1864 (with none other than Gen. Jo Shelby), Sam was willing to lead on a new level.
On October 9, 1864 the Leavenworth Colored Militia was called into service, Sam Jordan being appointed 1st Lieutenant. The militia marched from where the Big Blue River met the Missouri River south to near Hickman Mills just as Gen. Price moved to fight at the Battle of Westport October 21-23.
Although not in direct combat during this infamous battle, Sam Jordan and the Leavenworth Colored Militia did play a part in this conflict. The unit was disbanded on October 29, and by November, he was back at home in Leavenworth.
A Move to Kansas City
Sam and Kate Jordan’s time in Leavenworth was limited. For whatever the reason, the couple decided to uproot their young family and briefly move to Colorado before settling in Kansas City, Mo. about 1874.
Kansas City began its large explosion of population due to the opening of the first bridge over the Missouri River in 1869- the Hannibal Bridge. Railroads brought commerce and business opportunities becoming less and less available in other river towns such as Leavenworth.
The couple had five children at this point: Samuel (b. 1864), Callie (b. 1866), Leon H. (b. 1867), Sallie (b. 1870) and Oliver (b. 1873). They’d go on to have Kate (b. 1876), Alvin (b. 1880), Edna (b. 1882) and Robert (b. 1888) while permanent residents of Kansas City.
The growing family settled into the Church Hill neighborhood nestled within the rolling hills between 8th and 12th Streets, Holmes to Troost by 1874. Their home sat at 1112 Campbell in this diverse community.
Standing in Church Hill was an African American school, Lincoln, leading for educational opportunities for all of Sam’s children. A new building was erected at the northwest corner of 11th and Campbell for Lincoln in 1878. A few years later, they added high school classes.
His oldest son, Sam, Jr. was one of the four students to be the first graduates of Lincoln High School in 1885- and he was the only boy that walked the stage that year.
Gardiner Lathrop (1850-1933), a prominent attorney that founded the organization Lathrop & Gage, served as president of the School Board at the time, and he seemed well aware of the gravity of this monumental occasion.
Lathrop gave a speech at the first commencement, powerfully stating, “If 25 years ago a man had dared to say that tonight a colored class would have been thus honored, he would have been declared a fit subject for the lunatic asylum. But the world moves. Freedom, education and industry will break down all hindrances and open the doors of labor to all alike in time.”
Four years later, Sam’s son, Leon H. Jordan graduated from Lincoln High School with four other classmates.
Samuel Jordan ran in powerful circles at the time, making a name for himself in politics for his natural leadership and his intelligence. He ran a successful barber shop, first located at 110 E. 3rd Street, and ran a saloon just down the street. The Kansas City Star declared him as “the financial king of the colored population in Kansas City.”
In addition, Sam could see that investing in real estate was one way to secure his family’s financial future. He purchased several lots in Kansas City and improved them with buildings he then rented out to others.
He opened a new barber shop in the heart of the River Market at 13 W. 5th Street known as the OK Barber Shop; he turned his 3rd Street location into a bar.
Dabbling in the saloon business did run its risks. Sam appears in several court dockets after being charged with “selling tobacco without a license” and other petty crimes.
In 1885, his saloon was raided, but the police department’s high opinion of Sam’s character was apparent. “The police credit Jordan with good intentions and with no desire to break the law,” the Kansas City Journal reported. “But they think that his customers are the kind that it is necessary to watch. They are vicious and a majority of them would cut a man’s throat for a few dimes.”
The racism, despite their high opinion of Jordan, was still rampant.
An original and revised image of Katie Jordan.
Tragedies
There were certainly many challenges and tragedies for a Black family in Kansas City even prior to redlining and Jim Crow laws – even for a family with the status like the Jordans.
In 1897, Sam and Kate’s oldest son, Samuel passed away.
The family continued to live at their home at 1112 Campbell in the largest home on the block, welcoming Kate’s mother, Sallie Frazier after she closed up her businesses in Dodge City, Kan.
1901 proved to be a difficult year for the Jordans. In February, Kate’s mother passed away, and on July 30, the beloved patriarch of the family – Samuel Jordan – passed away at 68 years old.
His estate was valued at just over $30,000, equivalent to over $1 million in today’s money.
The Kansas City Journal wrote, “At one time he was quite a political power among the negroes.”
Kate carried on past the tragedies, continuing to ensure her children were given the best education and opportunities possible.
Leon Jordan’s Rise to Power
Prior to taking the plunge and after graduation from Lincoln High School in 1887, Leon opted to work at his father’s established OK Barber Shop on 5th Street.
In 1892, he was named a delegate to the Republican Convention; however, in just a few short years, he and many prominent Black men switched to the Democratic ticket. This was due to their dissatisfaction with the abandonment of Reconstruction policies and the rise of Jim Crow laws supported by the Republicans.
As mentioned prior, former Confederate General Jo Shelby was familiar with Leon’s father, and when he became U.S. Marshal, one of his first appointments in March 1894 was none other than 27-year-old Leon H. Jordan – a Black man from one of Kansas City’s most respected families of color.
In the next issue, we’ll untangle the complicated yet impressive career of Leon H. Jordan, his often-overlooked sisters and the irrefutable legacy he left behind.