The Jordan Story

James and Margaret Jordan Chapters

Margaret Graham

by Dave Jordan

Margaret raised her five kids after their separation in 1911. She was worked as a piano player and organist in the silent movie theaters of the time to support her family as James disappeared and provided no support. My grandfather Herbert had to quit high school to get a job to help her and he learned to play the drums to accompany her at the theaters. On June 19, 1919, Margaret finally divorced James after almost eight years of separation, and a year later on June 28, 1920 she married Robert Graham a friend over the decade whom had originally been a boarder in the Jordan household back in 1911.

After her marriage to Robert (Bob) Graham in 1920, Margaret and Bob continued to live in Chicago. Her son Herbert had married in 1918, but her other children Frances, Edward, Charles, and Art continued to live with her until their marriages. Frances married Ernest Hollinshead about 1922, Edward married Emelie, Charles married Josephine Michalene 13 February 1924, and Art married Myra. With the children on their own, she and Bob did some traveling. And sometime around 1933-34 she moved to California. There is an entry on her 1959 death certificate stating she lived in California for 37 years which suggests she moved there in late 1932 or early 1933. There is also a handwritten date of February 6, 1934. It is known that in 1933 she came back to Chicago on the train to attend the Chicago World's Fair. It's very possible that she and Bob visited California to try it out and came back to get their things before permanently moving in 1934.

She was the first of the Jordan clan to move to California and her move influenced many other Jordans to settle there. I believe her son Art moved with her or shortly thereafter. In the 1930s, son Edward and his children moved to California, and then in the early 1940s her son Herbert and Charles and their spouses also moved to California. Later some of the grandchildren including my uncles Harold and Herb also moved to California. Thus Margaret was the family leader in what later became a national trend to move to the Golden State. It is not known what prompted her to make the move but she was in her mid-50s, her family was grown and perhaps she and Bob while traveling had discovered the sunny and warm delights of an easier climate than Chicago for their golden years.

While in California, Margaret joined the Christian Scientists. She was fond of her sister Muriel who stayed in Chicago and she corresponded and sent her pictures. Margaret died at the Pine Tree Lodge Nursing Home in Glendale, California on April 20, 1959. At the time of her death she was 81. Near the end she spent some time being cared for in the homes of her sons Art and Herbert. She died of inflammation of the heart muscle, contributed to by arteriosclerosis. Her funeral service was held at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather (a replica of a Scottish Chapel) on Monday, August 24, at 11:30 am at the Forest Lawn Park in Glendale, California. Her cremated remains are inurned in Niche 19049 in the Columburium of Consecration.

Notes

1. Initial Web Publication Date: 9/16/2002
2. Modified:
3. Desktop Master file: Stories_Jordan