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195841
40090
State File No. 5282
Dist No. 4263 Reg. No. 39

 

Place of Birth:
1a. County of Cook

1b. City: Chicago
1c. Primary District No.: 3104

1d. Street Number: 2100 Grenshaw St.

2. Full Name at Birth: Herbert Arthur Jordan

3. Sex: Male
4. Twin, Triplet, or other:

5. Number in order of birth:

6. Legitimate: Yes

7. Date of Birth: July 24, 1897

Father

8. Full Name: James Oscar Jordan

9. Residence at time of this birth: 2100 Grenshaw St.

10. Color: White

11. Age at time of this birth: 25

12. Birthplace: England

13. Occupation: Electrician

Mother

14. Full Maiden Name: Margaret Jane Knowles

15. Residence at time of this birth: 2100 Grenshaw St.

16. Color: White

17. Age at time of this birth: 25

12. Birthplace: Montreal, Canada

13. Occupation: none

20a. Number of children born to this mother at the time of and including this birth: one

20b. Number of children living at the time of and including this birth: 1

21. I hereby certify that I was the Attendant at this Birth:

If signature of birth attendant is obtainable, an affidavit is not required.

State of

County of Cook

I hereby certify that I have knowledge of the facts as stated in the RECORD OF BIRTH and believe them to be true; and that I am related to this person as Mother

Signature Mrs. Margaret Jane Graham

Present Address: 3017 Future St. Los Angeles, California

Subscribed to, and sworn before me this 1st day of October 1942

Frank E. __set Notary Public

My commission expires August 24, 1945

22. Filed: October 9, 1942

• This is a delayed Certificate of Birth. Birth Records were not required before 1916 in Illinois. Later because of Social Security people went back and filed a delayed Record of Birth.
• Many later records indicate a year of birth was 1897 for Herbert A. Jordan. There were no Illinois Birth Records until 1916 but it is believed that his year of birth was 1898 based on 3 records close to his year of birth. These include the 1900 and the 1910 Census, and Margaret Jordan's Nov 9, 1911 Bill of Complaint against husband James Oscar Jordan. Margaret Jane Graham’s April 20, 1939 Petition for Naturalization and Permanent Residency indicates 1898. It is believed that at the time of his marriage, Herbert A. Jordan switched to a year of birth of 1897 in orde to make himself one year older. Meanwhile his wife Elizabeth Pajewski (Page) made herself 3 years younger (1895 to 1898) so that she would be younger than him.

• The 2100 Grenshaw Street is in error. They did not live there until 1902. From 1897 through 1899, the Jordans lived at 1453 Fillmore Street. Most likely Margaret was trying to remember back and just picked an address she remembered

• Christening records have not yet been searched for any of the five Jordan children born to James and Margaret Jordan. It is thought, though, that the children were likely baptized since both families had religious associations. For example, both of Margaret's marriages were in churches, one Baptist and one Presbyterian. In addition, she was baptized Presbyterian and later became a Christian Scientist. The Jordans were Anglican in England and James Oscar was associated with the Spiritualist movement in around 1910. The issue is what church and where would the records be if they were baptized.

• Herbert Jordan received religious instruction for becoming a Catholic before his marriage in August 1918. My dad thought that this was in Westover, Pennsylvania about 1917-1918. It is possible he was baptized there. No search has been done for these records.

• On November 23, 1976 a search was requested by the Federal Archives and Record Center in Georgia for Herbert Arthur Jordan's Selective Service Draft Records.
• They responded on December 7, 1976 that no record was found.

• The Selective Service Records have become publicly available in 2002. These records should be searched again. Likely home addresses were: 50 W. Marquette (1916), 7015 Princeton (1917), and 7007 S. Normal (1918).
• It is understood that Herbert's son Harold had Herbert Jordan's original Army records, including the discharge papers. One of Harold's children should have these records.

No. 804579

Herbert A. Jordan of Chicago, in the County of Cook, State of Illinois, being duly sworn and deposed says that he is of the age of 21 years, and that

Miss Elizabeth Page of Chicago, in the County of Cook, State of Illinois and is of the age of 20 years and that said above named persons are single and unmarried and may lawfully contract and be joined in marriage.

Subscribed and sworn before me this
7 August 1918
Robert Sweitzer County Clerk (signature)
Deputy (signature)
Elizabeth Page (signature)
Herbert A. Jordan (signature)
Address: 7007 Normal Ave.

• At the top of the application is hand written: July 24, 1897 and December 8, 1897. These dates of birth led to the 21 years for Herbert and 20 years for Elizabeth. However these are not their years of birth. Herbert was born July 24, 1898 and Elizabeth December 8, 1895. In actuality, Herbert was 20 and Elizabeth was 22. It appears they desired that he was "officially" older than she. They maintained this "adjusted" year of birth throughout their lives. Elizabeth insisted that 1898 be put on her tombstone and not 1895 which was on her Baptismal Certificate.

• It is also of interest that Elizabeth used the surname Page instead of Pajewski. The surname was officially changed to Page in 1926, 8 years after Elizabeth's marriage. However, it appears that the family began using the anglicized Page version well before that.
• The address 7007 Normal in Chicago is the same address that Herbert's mother lived in for several years and was in that address for the 1920 Census. While this was Herbert's home address, it is likely he was on leave from the Army for a short time while he got married.

No. 804579

This is to Certify
That Herbert A. Jordan
and Elizabeth M. Page
were Lawfully Married
on the 21 day of August 1918

According to the Rite of the Roman Catholic Church
and in conformity with the laws of the State of

Rev. Joseph M. Schutte
officiating in the presence of Charles Pettele
and Rose Page Witnesses, as appears from the Marriage Register of this Church

Dated September 12, 1976

• Elizabeth consistently used Page instead of Pajewski among the 3 marriage certificates.

• Rose Page is Elizabeth's younger sister. She was 18 at the time of the marriage.
• Charles Pettele is a new name; it must have been a friend of Herberts.

• Herbert filed for personal bankruptcy on February 24, 1931 in Chicago. The Bankruptcy File Number is 46524.

• In the late 1920s or early 1930s, Herbert sequentially started two restaurants one at 69th and Halsted and the other at 63rd and Ashland. Most likely the bankruptcy is as a result of one of these businesses.

• Herbert worked for the US Post Office from about 1935 until about 1942 or 1943. In 1979 an attempt was made to obtain records from his employment there.

• The Post Office replied that the records can be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center, 111 Winnebago Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118. I did not followup on this, but it would be useful to obtain these records to firm up dates and other information which might be available for Herbert.

SSN: 326-20-0414
Name: Herbert Arthur Jordan
Address: 6934 S. Throop
Age at Last Birthday: 45
Date of BIrth: July 24, 1897
Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Father: James Oscar Jordan
Mother: Margaret Jane Knowles
Business Name: Unemployed
Date: October 10, 1942

• The Social Security program began in the late 1930s. People who had worked or intended to work could apply.

• This record was filed only 10 days after Herbert's delayed birth record.
• This record places Herbert in Chicago in October 1942. By December 1942 he was in California.