Jefferson County Online A part of the IAGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects Who's Who in 1921 & 1922 Arthur Gray Jordan

"The Fairfield Tribune"
Thursday, September 29, 1921
Page SIX

NO. 31

ARTHUR GRAY JORDAN

From time to time there arises in some community a veritable giant of a man, a man of rare accomplishments, one of astonishing versatility and of amazing knowledge. This man may be runty in stature, but mighty in intellect. Such a man riz here in Fairfield some forty odd years ago.

Reference is made to one Arthur Gray Jordan, the gentleman we have with us today and with whom you may doubtless have had some acquaintance. He is presented here in his favorite role, acting as toastmaster. Also, he is wearing the green dress suit which he has rented for the occasion from a local store. Arthur says he dislikes these social functions of a formal character as it is such a bother to have to rent a dress suit. He likes best to serve as toastmaster at the little informal gatherings where a bunch of good fellows, sans ladies, get together; a bottle of near-beer, a bit of Dutch lunch and a mild cigar--well, there's where he shines as toastmaster.

We have intimated that Arthur Gray is something of an intellectual giant. This statement does not necessarily have a bearing upon his knowledge of the law, and is induced by the information given by one of his associates of his younger days. This informant declares that nothing short of an intellectual giant could know so much about baseball as does Arthur Gray Jordan. As an authority Art has all of the local talent backed off the boards on the subject of baseball. He has never written a book on the subject merely because he has never seemed to get around to it.

Hearing much of his prowess as a baseball player and of his great knowledge of the game, his present biographer set about an investigation for the full facts for inclusion in this biography. A contemporaneous player was found to be a veritable fountain of knowledge on the subject and fairly swamped the interviewer with information.

"What position did Art play in the baseball game?" was asked.

"Oh, any and all of them," the informant replied. "He was just as good in the pitcher's or catcher's box as he was out in the field or on a base."

"Art must have been a very talented player?" was ventured.

"Well, I'd hardly say that," came the reply. "You see he wasn't any great shakes as a player but he was strong on baseball oratory. My, how that fellow could orate! There never was a play made that he couldn't give a learned disquisition on it. Usually he showed how the play could have been made a thousand percent better. Yeh, Art was some orator."

It must be understood that these words are those of the informant and that Arthur Gray's biographer accepts no responsibility for them, putting them down here merely in the interests of exact truth. Another informant states that Arthur would sometimes play ball himself it if wasn't too hot a day.

Down at Arthur's house there's a son and heir some seven or eight years of age. In his nursery will be found all of Art's law library which treats of elementary law; also the walls are covered with pictures of base ball players, with diagrams of plays, and there are several volumes on baseball rules and technical information. Surmounting all else, and occupying the most conspicuous place in the room, is a huge portrait of Federal Judge Landis, draped with an American flag. Arthur holds long conversations with his boy every day, with Judge Landis as the subject. The judge is pointed to as worthy of emulation. "Here we find," Arthur tells the boy, "perhaps the only instance, at least the only conspicuous one aside from that of your father, of one who has made a triumphant success of both the law and baseball. I would have you study this illustrious example of what may be accomplished by application. The jedge and I have reached the same dizzying heights in our ambitions, but the jedge has been a bit luckier than I have in the matter of getting a job. My boy, concentrate and apply yourself to the task of occupying a place on the bench and being a baseball arbiter at the same time."

Arthur Gray has the distinction of having been born in Fairfield--and further distinction of no Fairfield people ever having complained of the fact. When a young man Art tried working in his father's lumber yard for a while. To this day he shudders and looks in his hands for spliters when he sees a man handling lumber. When he's building up evidence in a case you'll note that he always refers to it as 'laying stone upon stone;" he doesn't like to think of lumber.

But Arthur Gray Jordan is a most useful citizen. When there's anybody to be harangued or bullied into anything, or any other mean or dirty piece of work in a speech-making way to be done, it is usual to say "Get Art Jordan." Art saved a big part of the country during the war by his speeches for Liberty bonds, Red Cross help, and the like. He was found very useful also as a diplomatic emissary to those who were a bit reluctant to buy Liberty bonds and give to the Red Cross. Art has a very convincing way and is diplomatic enough to put it over. That he has made a wonderful success of one of his professions--law--is demonstrated by the fact that he was tendered the high office of attorney for the city of Fairfield only this very year. The offer sort of made Art's head whirl for a little while but he finally decided that he couldn't spare the time for the place--that the poor fellow who had stolen a hog was in greater need of his services than was the city of Fairfield.

In his other profession--baseball--Arthur hasn't attained any particularly exalted heights, but he says Judge Landis is getting pretty old and they'll need someone in his place one of these days, and--well, you never can tell. And there's a lot of people in this town who think so much of Art that they'd be tickled to death to see him land such a job.

There's this much to be said of Arthur Gray Jordan, that while he is always ready to do a bit of speech making on demand, he always has something to say and says it. And he says it so uncommon well that you'll find his audience hanging on till the last word is spoken. Art talks as well as he makes speeches. Give him a mild cigar and a reasonably good size piece of fresh Horseshoe tobacco and you'll find him a mighty companionable short of a chap--one you'll listen to as long as he'll talk and from whose talk you'll come away better informed.