Cornelia Jane Matthews Jordan

Cornelia Jane Matthews Jordan (January 11, 1830 – January 26, 1898) was an American poet and lyricist associated with the Civil War. Her book of poems entitled Corinth, and other Poems, published after the surrender, was seized by the military commander of Richmond, Virginia and suppressed.[1] She published a volume entitled Richmond, Her Glory and Her Graves. Jordan also contributed many articles to magazines and newspapers, the best of which were "The Battle of Manassas," "The Death of Jackson" and "An Appeal for Jefferson Davis." She was a member of the Alumni of the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., her alma mater.[2]

Cornelia Jane Matthews Jordan
"A woman of the century"
BornCornelia Jane Matthews
January 11, 1830 – January 26, 1898
Lynchburg, Virginia, US
DiedJanuary 16, 1898(1898-01-16) (aged 68)
Resting placePresbyterian Cemetery, Lynchburg
Occupationpoet, lyricist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSisters of the Visitation
Spouse
Francis Hubert Jordan
​
​
(m. 1851; died 1896)​

Early years and education

Cornelia Jane Matthews was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, January 11, 1830.[3] Her father was Edwin Matthews, a former mayor of that town.[4] Her mother was Emily Goggin Matthews, a sister of William L. Goggin, who figured prominently in Virginia politics before the war.[5] She was born to wealth, and received all the advantages of liberal education and polished society. After her mother's death in 1834, Jordan and two younger sisters were sent to the home of their grandmother in Bedford County.[6]

In 1842, at the age of 12, Jordan was placed in the school of the Sisters of the Visitation, in Georgetown. Her poetical productions being numerous and excellent,[6] she was the poet-laureate of her schoolmates.[5]

Career

In 1851, she married Francis Hubert Jordan (1821–1896),[5][7] a lawyer of Luray, Virginia, where she made her home. During the first years of her married life, she wrote a great deal. A collection of her poems was published in Richmond, in 1860, with the title, Flowers of Hope and Memory. During the Civil War, she wrote many stirring lyrics. A volume of these, entitled Corinth, and Other Poems, was published after the surrender. It was seized by the military commander in Richmond and suppressed as seditious.[8] In 1867, she published Richmond: Her Glory and Her Graves, in a volume with some shorter lyrics. She contributed many poems to magazines and newspapers. Her best-known war poems were "The Battle of Manassas," "The Death of Jackson" and "An Appeal for Jefferson Davis."[6] Her "Funeral Flowers" touched a sympathetic chord, while "Old Confed'" was copied into various Southern journals.[5] Jordan died in 1898.[7]

Selected works
  • Flowers of Hope and Memory, 1860
  • "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven" : the blighted bud, a mother's record of a little life soon ended., 1861
  • Corinth, and other poems of the war, 1865
  • Richmond: Her Glory and Her Graves, 1867
  • Echoes from the cannon, 1899

References
  1. Logan 1912, p. 819.
  2. Logan 1912, p. 820.
  3. Herringshaw 1904, p. 541.
  4. Taylor 1972, p. 68.
  5. Moulton 1892, p. 189.
  6. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 427.
  7. Moore 2006, p. 80.
  8. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 426.

Attribution
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1904). Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century: Accurate and Succinct Biographies of Famous Men and Women in All Walks of Life who are Or Have Been the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States Since Its Formation ... (Public domain ed.). American Publishers' Association.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Logan, Mrs. John A. (1912). The Part Taken by Women in American History (Public domain ed.). Perry-Nalle publishing Company. p. 819.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1892). The Magazine of Poetry (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton. p. 189.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 426.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Bibliography
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