Thomas Jefferson Jordan was born in December 3rd, 1821, to Benjamin Jordan and Mary Crouch on the family farm, Walnut Hill, in Paxtang, Dauphin County Pennsylvania. He died April 2nd, 1895 and was buried in the Wilmington and Brandywine cemetery, in Delaware.

His grandfather, Thomas Jordan, was born in Cecil County, Maryland, and married Ann Steele, daughter of Capt. William Steele of Drumore, Lancaster County, PA and widow of Robert Dickson. Benjamin Jordan was born near Milton PA in 1779 shortly before the family fled due to Indian attacks.They later lived in Hopewell, York County, PA. Jordan was paymster for Gen. James Potter in the Pennsylvania militia and fought with Potter in Chester County, PA.

Benjamin Jordan would later marry Potter's grand-daughter, Mary Crouch, daughter of Edward Crouch and Margaret Potter and would follow his father-in-law and uncle, John Steele into politics and inherited Walnut Hill, near Col. James Burd's estate, Tinian. Burd had been a prominent figure in the French and Indian War and his descendants later married into the Jordan family. When Lafayette visited Lancaster in 1825 he stayed at Walnut Hill when Thomas J. Jordan was a young child.

Mary Crouch's grandfather, James Crouch, had moved from Virginia to York County near Wrightsville, then to Paxtang. The family was associated with the Paxtang Presbyterian Church for many generations and many of the Crouches and Jordans are buried there.

Benjamin Jordan's mother had three brothers that eventually became generals in the Revolutionan and War of 1812. His aunt, Rachel Steele, married Jacob Bailey, brother of Francis Bailey, and the Baileys and Steeles were involved in the printing trade for multiple generations with Francis Bailey printing newspapers, almanacs and becoming the official printer for Continental Congress, and a close friend of Benjamin Franklin and witness to Franklin's will.. Benjamin's half brothers, William and Robert Dickson, were associated with the Lancaster Intelligencer and Benjamin had apprenticed there as a young man before going on to a career in politics . He was a friend of Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Secretary of War, who was also a notable figure in Pennsylvania politics, and an investor in the Bank of Middleton with Cameron.

Gen. Thomas Jefferson Jordan, Civil War Union PA Cavalry