Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/720

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GORDON
GORDON

no disturbance, and had not been absent from home during the riots. He was, however, arrested, talien to Morant bay and tried by a court-martial, who adjudged him guilty. The evidence brought for- ward against him stated that he had been seen on one Sunday at a certain chapel at which Paul Bogle, another so-called rebel leader, worshipped ; that somebody had said that Mr. Gordon had desired the people of a certain district in the parish to hold a meeting ; that certain placards in blank had been found in Mr. Gordon's portmanteau ; that a placard headed " The State of the Island " (in which there was not a single word of disloyalty or sedition) had been penned by Mr. Gordon ; that he had used some strong language in a meeting of the people he had some weeks before addressed in the parish of Vere ; and that he had written a letter to one Chisholm, advismg him, with reference to the suf- ferings of the people, to "pray to God for help and deliverance." Mr. Gordon protested solemnly against having had knowledge of or part in the plot. Nevertheless Gov. Eyre sanctioned the find- ing of the court-martial, and Gordon was hanged on 23 Oct. At the close of that month the num- ber of those shot and hanged by the soldiery with- out trial, or by order of the court-martial, was re- ported as reaching 2,000.


GORDON, Sir James Alexander, British naval officer, b. about 1783; d. in Greenwich hospital, England, 8 Jan., 1869. He entered the navy in 1798, and rose rapidly in his profession. He was at the battle of the Nile, served in the West Indies, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic ; commanded the frigate " Active " at the battle of Lissa, for which he received a gold medal and a pension of £300, and, at the capture of the French frigate " La Pomone," had a leg carried away by a 36-pounder. In August, 1814. with a squadron mider his command, he en- tered the Potomac, reduced Port Washington and other batteries, and subsequently forced the city of Alexandria to capitulate. He also took part in the operations against New Orleans in 1814r-'15. In 1827 he was appointed governor of the royal naval hospital at Plymouth. In 1840 he became lieutenant-governor of Greenwich hospital, and in 1853 was advanced to the post of governor of that establishment.- Altogether he served in the navy nearly seventy-six years, and was the last survivor of Lord Nelson's band of captains. He was created aK.C. B. in 1815; in 1854, G. C. B. ; and became admiral of the fleet in 1868.


GORDON, James D., missionary, b. in Prince Edward island ; d. in Erromanga, New Hebrides, 25 Feb., 1872. He entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church, and in 1864 went to Erro- manga, one of the New Hebrides group of islands, as a missionary. At the end of six years he with- drew from outside support, and entirely alone trusted himself unreservedly among the natives until his death. During his residence on the island he translated portions of the Bible into the lan- guage of iiirromanga. besides preparing primers and hymns for their use. He also acquired a knowledge of the language of the island of Espiritu Santo, and spent a winter there teaching the peo- ple. He perished at the hands of hostile natives.


GORDON, John Brown, governor of Georgia, b. in Uspon county, Ga., 6 Feb., 1832. He was edu- cated at the University of Georgia, studied law and was admitted to the bar, but had practised only a short time when he entered the Confederate army as a captain of infantry. He rose successively to the rank of major-genei'al. He commanded one wing of Lee's army at Appomattox i'ourt-House, and was wounded in battle eight times daring the war. He was the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia in 1868, but, though his election was claimed by his party, his opponent, Rufus B. Bullock, secured the office. He was a member of the National Democratic con- ventions of 1868 and 1872, presi- dential elector for the same years, and in January, 1873, was elected to the U. S. sen- ate. He was re- , elected in 1879, but resigned his seat in 1880. He took an active part in the pro- ceedings of the senate. In 1886

he was elected

governor of Georgia, and in 1890 he was again sent to the U. S. senate.


GORDON, Patrick, soldier, b. in 1644; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 5 Aug., 1736. He was bred to arms in the British service, and served from his youth to the close of Queen Anne's reign with a high reputation. He was afterward appointed governor of Pennsylvania, arrived there with his family in the summer of 1726, and met the assembly in August. In his first address he said that he had been a soldier, knew nothing of the crooked ways of professed politicians, and must rely upon a blunt, straight- forward course in his communica- tions with them and in the admin- istration of the government. At a council held in Philadelphia on 26 May, 1728, for the purpose of re- newing treaties

with the Indian

tribes there represented, it was said by the Indians in reference to the governor's address, " The governor's words were all right and good ; we have never had any such speech since William Penn was here." Gov. Gordon was equally popular with his own people. He published " Two Indian Treaties at Conestogoe, 1728 " (Philadelphia, 1728).


GORDON, Thomas, statesman, b. in Pitlochie, Scotland ; d. in Amboy, N. J., in 1722. He came to New Jersey in 1684, and settled in Scotch Plains. He was elected attorney-general of the eastern dis- trict in 1698, chief secretary and register in 1702, licensed as an attorney in 1704, elected to the legis- lature, and became speaker of the assembly. In 1709 he became chief justice, and was afterward receiver-general and treasurer of the province.


GORDON, Thomas F., historian, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1787; d. in Beverly, N. J., 17 Jan., 1860. lie was a member of the Philadelphia bar, but devoted much of his time to historical and archæological researches. He published " Digest