Life as 'Preacher' Gordon

After college, U.S. Gordon went to the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louissville, Kentucky to become a preacher, where he obtained a bachelors degree in Ministry. Immediately after graduating from Seminary, Gordon served in the U.S. Army as a Private in the Medical Department (1917-1918). After returning from a year of service, he began to fulfill his occupation as a Presbyterian minister. Below is a timeline of Gordon's life as a preacher.

• Ordained to ministry of Presbyterian Church in 1918
• Pastor in Charleston, Mississippi from 1919-1922
• Pastor of 1st Presbyterian Church in Starkville, Mississippi from 1922-1926
• Associate Pastor of 2nd Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee from 1926-1928
• Pastor of 1st Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Florida from 1928-1968
• Recipient of Centennial Award and Medal from University of Florida in 1953
• Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Florida 1963
• May 1976, Preacher Gordon Month, Gainesville, FL
• Preacher Gordon: A Mischievous Saint.  By Lester L. Hale.  Published 1982
• Moderator of the Synod of Florida
• Died in the spring of 1976 in Gainesville, FL
• Preacher Gordon Memorial Chapel in Alacua General Hospital, Gainesville, FL, dedicated on March 25, 1979

'Stout' Gordon received this letter from a friend on July 13, 1939 about his interest in a pastorship position at the First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa.  The letter also mentions the man's extreme digust for being associated with Jim Crow and his concern about improving the preaching morals of the church.

This second letter was written on the same day (July 13, 1939) to Mr. Owen Meredith at the First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, about U.S. Gordon’s many qualifications for the position as pastor of the church. In the letter, U.S. Gordon is described as a 'first class man' who would thrive at the church if selected for the position. 

This image of U.S. Gordon was taken in front of Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he preached as an Associate Pastor from 1926-1928. After this time, Gordon moved to a new position in Gainesville, Florida, where he remained for the rest of his career.

After U.S. Gordon’s death in the spring of 1976, an article was written in the October edition of the Southwestern Today, in memory of his life of service and dedication to others. Gordon retired after a forty-year ministry at the First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Florida. He was known by many as a kind and generous man who spent a significant amount of time visiting the ill in the Gainesville area hospitals. His funeral service had over 1,500 attendees, all who wished to pay their respects to him.

On March 25, 1979 the Preacher Gordon Memorial Chapel at the Alacua General Hospital in Gainesville, FL was dedicated in his honor. This was likely one of the hospitals in which U.S. Gordon spent much of his time visiting the sick and elderly during his days as a preacher in Gainesville.