William E. Jordan (September 10, 1883 – August 13, 1953) was a stenographer and

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...

from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin, who served three terms as a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

representing the 11th

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

district (11th and 23rd wards of the City of Milwaukee).

Background

Jordan was born September 10, 1883, in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, Germany. He came with his parents to the United States in 1891. They settled in Milwaukee, where he attended the Milwaukee Public Schools. He attended a business college and worked four years as a stenographer. At age 21 he learned the bricklayers' trade, and became a member of the bricklayers union in October 1910.

Assembly

Although active in his union, Jordan had never held a public office before being elected to the Assembly in November, 1916 to succeed fellow Socialist (and union activist)

James Vint James H. Vint (January 14, 1881 – January 7, 1965) was a machinist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who served three terms as a Socialist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. In later years, he moved to Union Grove, Wisconsin and became a farmer. ...

. Jordan received 2160 votes to 1985 for

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

William A. Klug and 73 votes for Prohibitionist A. J. Jorgenson. He was assigned to the standing committee on

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. He was re-elected in 1918, with 2753 votes to 1958 for Republican John L. Bieszk. He remained on the municipalities committee, and was also appointed to a special joint committee on

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, mo ...

and

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

funds for

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s. He ran unopposed in 1920 and stayed on the municipalities committee. In 1922, after the Assembly was redistricted, Jordan's old 11th district was split between two districts. Jordan sought re-election in the new 10th Milwaukee County district (16th and 23rd wards), and was defeated by Republican

John W. Eber John W. Eber (October 16, 1895 – March 18, 1972) was speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Eber was born on October 16, 1895 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. On April 21, 1921, he married Celia Mitchell. They had one daughter. Career Eber ...

, who received 3829 votes to Jordan's 2618. The 11th ward from the old district was encompassed in a revised 11th district, which elected Socialist Olaf C. Olsen.''The Wisconsin blue book, 1923'' Madison, 1923; pp. 579, 630
/ref>

References

1883 births 1953 deaths American bricklayers Prussian emigrants to the United States Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from East Prussia Politicians from Milwaukee Stenographers Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Wisconsin politicians {{wisconsin-WIAssembly-stub