Gordon Family Papers

The Gordon family spans several generations in Georgia. The patriarch of the family, Lewis Gordon, immigrated from Kovno, Lithuania, and started his working life in the United States as a peddler with a pack on his back. He settled in Atlanta and opened Gordon Tuttle Department Store on Peters Street in Atlanta, Georgia. He met Elizabeth Gottlieb and they gave birth to Jacob Benjamin Gordon on December 21, 1888 (d. Feb. 27, 1955).

Jacob married Sadie Goldstein who was born on November 9, 1891 in Macon, Georgia. Sadie’s family owned Goldstein’s Dry Goods Company that had locations in Macon. Sadie and Jacob had two children, Samuel Lewis Gordon (1918-2016) and Jack Benjamin Gordon (1920-1944). Both served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Jack was captured in the Philippines in 1942 and tragically perished when his POW transport ship was sunk in 1944. Sadie Goldstein Gordon died on November 12, 1945 in Atlanta.

Sam received his medical license from Emory in 1941 and served as a surgeon during the war. He met and married Nancy Willstatter (1920-2012) of New York City while a medical student at Emory in January of 1942. Nancy was in school at Agnes Scott College. Her father, Alfred Willstatter, was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and her uncle was a Nobel award winning chemist, Richard Willstatter. They had three children, Samuel Lewis Gordon, Jr. (1942- ), Jack Benjamin Gordon (1946- ), and Peter A. Gordon (1949- ). Nancy died on June 4, 2012 in Atlanta and Sam died in Lantana, Florida on June 28, 2016.