| Powhatan Gordon | |
| Birth Date: | November 15, 1802 |
| Birth Place: | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Bryan, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Party: | Democratic Party Know Nothing |
| Spouse: | Caroline Mary Coleman |
| Children: | 11 |
| Parents: | John Gordon Dorothea Cross |
Major Powhatan Gordon (1802–1879) was an American farmer and politician. He served in the Tennessee Senate in 1842 and 1845. During his tenure, he proposed a bill for the creation of Lewis County, Tennessee. By 1854, his bid for Congress as a member of the Know Nothing party was unsuccessful.
Powhatan Gordon was born on November 15, 1802, in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] [2] His father, John Gordon, built John Gordon House in Williamsport, Tennessee.[2]
Gordon was a corn farmer in Williamsport, Tennessee.[1] He sold his corn in Louisiana.[2]
During the Second Seminole War of 1835–1842, he served as a Major in the First Tennessee Mounted Militia.[1] He subsequently served in the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.[1] When Veracruz was occupied by the United States, he sold goods in the city.[2]
Gordon joined the Democratic Party.[2] He served in the Tennessee Senate in 1842 and 1845.[1] It was Gordon who proposed a bill for the creation of Lewis County, Tennessee, out of parts of Hickman County, Lawrence County, Wayne County, and Maury County, naming it after explorer Meriwether Lewis.[3]
Gordon joined the Know Nothing party and ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1854, but he lost the race.[1]
Gordon married Caroline Mary Coleman on June 26, 1828.[1] They had eleven children, including Judge William Osceola Gordon and state representative R. H. Gordon.[1] [2] He died on January 29, 1879, in Bryan, Texas.[1]