Louis John Jordan

Louis John Jordan was born in Fredericksburg to William F Jordan and Augusta Keller on 30 January 1890. Originally, the family surname was pronounced "Yordan" as Louis' ancestors were of German descent.

Louis grew up on the family ranch together with his siblings Harry, Anna, Emma, Betty, and Elsie.
He started his education at Fredericksburg Public School. Later, at the age of 16, Louis became a licensed teacher.
Louis J Jordan was employed at Stein's Lumber Yard and also taught at Honey Creek School.

The boy's mother Augusta passed over in 1907 when he was 17 years old.

Louis Jordan attended San Antonio Academy, he was awarded a scholarship and then, studied at The University of Texas from 1911 to 1915.

During his studies, he played football in the University team. Young Louis became the team captain in 1914. He was a great athlete. The man was selected by Walter Camp and became a member of the Southern All-American football team. He also set a state hammer throw record.

Louis J. Jordan graduated in 1914 with a degree in electric engineering. Later he taught engineering in San Antonio Academy and worked as an engineer for the San Antonio Transit Company.

When WW1 broke out Louis volunteered on 15 August 1917. His registration card reads that at that time he was employed by the US government and worked at Fort Sam Houston. Studying the record we can also learn that Louis was a tall stout man with blue eyes and blond hair (1).

L J Jordan joined the officers' training camp at Leon Springs. He was commissioned First Lt. in the Field Artillery.

He was assigned at 149 Field Artillery 42nd Division, then transferred to 67th Field Artillery Brigade and Battery C 149th Field Artillery. Together with his Division, Louis was deployed overseas on 12 September 1917. They went to France. A few months later 1st Lt Louis Jordan was killed in action during fights in Lorraine. He was buried at Benemenil Cemetery in France - grave # 195 (2).

Sadly, he was the first man and officer of Fredericksburg, TX who perished in WW1.
1st Lt Jordan was awarded for his heroism and sacrifice the French medal Cross de Guerre (Cross of War).

On 11 June 1921, his remains were laid in the City Cemetery in Fredericksburg, TX.
Years later, on 9 November 1957, Louis John Jordan was honored with inscribing his name in the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Resources:

1. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZXZ-KZ4: 24 August 2019), Louis John Jordan, 1917-1918.

2. "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-J56V : 13 March 2018), Louis J Jordan, 15 Aug 1917; citing Military Service, Texas, United States, Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin.

3. Medal Photo by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) 

Pioneers in God's Hills. A History of Texas and Gillespie County People and Events. 1960, Gillespie County Historical Society. Printed by Boeckman-Jons, Austin, Texas.

Orange Daily Leader (Orange, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 39, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 13, 1918, newspaper, March 13, 1918; Orange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth563580/: accessed August 7, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar State College-Orange.