Irwin Jordan was born into slavery around February 1844 near Howardsville, Virginia, to Reuben Jordan. He had at least three brothers, including William Jordan and Nelson W. Jordan. His enslaver was George E. Booker, and he grew up on Booker’s farm near Howardsville. He and his brother William fled to Union lines in 1861 or 1862. He spent a year working as a waiter for Lieutenant Ephraim Chalfant of the 1^st West Virginia Light Artillery and then spent six months living in Bridgeport, Ohio.

He enlisted in the Union army on February 17, 1865, in Wheeling, West Virginia, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 45^th USCT Infantry the following day. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with black hair and black eyes. He listed his occupation as “farmer.” The regiment took part in the siege of Petersburg and the Appomattox campaign. He fell ill in May 1865, and he mustered out at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, on June 14, 1865.

After the war, he and William settled in St. Clairsville, Ohio. By 1870, he was probably working as a “hostler.” He married Catherine Cochran on July 19, 1875, and they had seven children: Boma, born around 1876; Irwin, born around 1877; Jane, born around 1879; Mary, born around 1881; Roger, born around 1882; Edna, born around 1884; and Louisa, born around 1895. He applied for a federal pension in July 1873, testifying that he had developed a ”double hernia” during the siege of Petersburg. He eventually began receiving $12 per month. He earned a living as a laborer, performing “odd jobs” around St. Clairsville.

He supported the Republican Party, and he and his brother helped organize a “Colored Republican Club” in St. Clairsville in October 1880. As a local editor reported, the club “expects to do its full share in forwarding the cause of freedom and human rights.” He probably belonged to the Methodist Church. He died of Bright’s disease in Belmont County, Ohio, on June 19, 1921.