James W. Gordon (ca. 1886 - 1931)

James W. Gordon was born about 1886, in Ryot (Oak Shade or Six Roads), West St. Clair Township, Bedford County or in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, the son of Lorenzo Madden and Margaret (Adams) Gordon. James was the tenth of eleven children. 

Shortly after his birth, his family moved from Ryot  to Johnstown. His brother Daniel was born in Johnstown in 1889 and died there in 1893 at the age of 3. It is thought that the family moved back to Ryot after Daniel's death.

In 1896 James moved with his parents and many of his older brothers and sisters to Streetsboro, Portage County, Ohio. In 1903 his mother died at the age of 50; James was 16.

On March 1, 1912 James married Maona Gladys Queen in Portage County.  Gladys was born about 1892 in West Virginia, the daughter of O. L. and Mary (Simon) Queen.

In 1915 James's father Lorenzo committed suicide. 

James and Gladys had three children, Wilma Dean Gordon, Robert Lee Gordon, and Loren J. Gordon, and they resided in Streetsboro.

Sadly, James committed suicide in his backyard with a shotgun on October 23, 1931 at the age of  45. Fortunately, no one was home at the time.

Their youngest son, Loren died on January 24, 1941 at the age of 21 in a trucking accident. He had been a truck driver.