Isaac M. Jordan

Isaac M. Jordan (born Isaac Alfred Jordan; May 5, 1835 – December 3, 1890) was a United States Congressman and Freemason who was born in Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. He served one term, elected as a Democrat to the 48th congress, (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885) in Ohio's 2nd congressional district, a strong Republican district.

He was also one of the founding members of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Biography
Jordan was twenty years old when he became one of the founding members of the Sigma Chi Fraternity in 1855 at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Jordan graduated from Miami University in 1857 and obtained his master's degree from Miami in 1862.

He was an orator of first and 15th Grand Chapters.

During a speech in 1884, he explained the standard by which all pledges and brothers should be judged, which is now known as the Jordan Standard.

Following his graduation from Miami, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Dayton, Ohio and Cincinnati, during which time he changed his middle initial to M (meaning nothing in particular) to distinguish himself from his brother and law partner Jackson A. Jordan, as he thought people would confuse J.A. and I.A. Jordan.

An important part of his life's journey was set early on when he moved to Ohio with his family and met Ben Runkle, who later described Jordan as a "playmate of my boyhood, a schoolmate, and a friend for the long and strenuous years of manhood... with boundless energy, lofty ambitions, gifted with untiring perseverance and the ability that made success a certainty." Jordan and Runkle, two fellow Freemasons, landed at Miami University together for college, and fittingly became fraternity brothers, first as Dekes, then as founders of the new fraternity, Sigma Phi, which later became known as Sigma Chi. Jordan displayed his goal-oriented nature throughout his collegiate career, and it was no surprise that he went straight to law school and practiced as an attorney until he was elected in 1882 to the U.S. Congress.

Professionally, he was admitted to bar in Columbus, Ohio in 1858 (attorney) 1858–1890.

Congress
He became a congressman of the first district of Ohio, serving from 1883 to 85.

Death and interment
Jordan's accidental death from injuries received from falling down an elevator shaft in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 3, 1890, was deeply mourned throughout southwestern Ohio. The tragedy created a shock throughout the city. All courts adjourned and public businesses were stilled. The newspapers of the day devoted entire pages, with prominent headlines and drawings, to the occurrence.

Jordan was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.