Born a slave in 1817, Thomas Francis Jordan (AKA Thomas Francis Blount - AKA Thomas Francis Barnes - yes three names over his lifetime " a long and very interesting story") rose up from slavery in St. Mary's County, MD to end up owning hundreds of acres of land in Valley Lee, St. Mary's Co., MD before he was done.

Many years later, one of his sons, Jeremiah Jordan opened the first Hotel and Horse Stable for Coloreds in Leonardtown, MD (St. Mary's Co.). This black-owned business did very well for almost 10 years (maybe too well) as we were told back in 1979 by our grandfather (Jerome Carter Jordan) (this was, for us, an historic family oral narrative event - which we still have on tape). Our grandfather (AKA "Pop Pop") told us that white competitors burned Jeremiah's hotel to the ground to reclaim the business that they lost to him due to The Jordan Hotel's excellent food, horse care, and service (which had both colored and white folks coming to HIS Location over the others in town). Jeremiah was never the same after the fire. He lost his mind behind this event (July 25, 1893). He would end up dying in the hospital for the insane up in Baltimore.

St. Mary's newspaper - "The Beacon" and the Baltimore Sun covered the story at the time.

Sunday, 5 Nov 2017 JVS

Community Curation

Jerome Spears