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John B. Gordon is mayor of Madera. This position was created three years ago, in a revision of the city charter. Before that, Mr. Gordon served as chairman of the City council and ex-officio mayor, and thus has been the executive head of the city government for seven years.

John B. Gordon was born at Bridges, Tennessee, September 5, 1892, the son of John H. and Hattie (Perkins) Gordon. An account of the family’s removal from Tennessee to California is given in the sketch of Virgil Gordon in this work.

John B. Gordon was five years old when his parents brought him to the City of Madera. He had all his schooling in this city, including grammar and high school and a business course. In 1911, he commenced work for the Madera Abstract company, and has pursued this career ever since. The Madera Company was owned originally by E. M. McCardle, who later merged it with the Security Title Insurance and Guarantee Company, of which Mr. McCardle is now district manager at Fresno. Mr. Gordon was assistant manager at Madera until 1925, when he became the manager of the Madera branch.

As mayor, Mr. Gordon gives all his spare time to the interests of the municipality, and he has served as a director of the Madera County Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and of the Masons, and he formerly was a member of the Lions club.

John B. Gordon was first married to Mabel Thede, now deceased. One child of this marriage survives, a daughter, Meredith. Mr. Gordon’s second marriage was to Mrs. Roselyn Gordon who was granddaughter of W. H. Larew, prominent citizen of Madera who was one of the commissioners named by the governor to organize the county in 1893.

From the History of Fresno and Madera Counties, 1933, Joseph Barcroft, editor for Madera County.