The Gordon family shared a passion for leadership. In fact, Daisy came from a long line of American leaders. We’d like you to meet some of the most influential members of the Gordon family.

Daisy’s grandfather, William Washington Gordon I, served as the founder and first president of the Central Railroad and Canal Co. (later known as the Central of Georgia Railroad Company) and was a former mayor of Savannah. In 1815, he earned the distinction of being the first graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point from the state of Georgia. He served as a member of the Georgia legislature. He was married to Sarah Anderson Stites (1806-1882) niece of Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne. Tragically, William Washington Gordon I died at the age of 46 as a result of malaria contracted while working on the construction of his railroad. For a brief time after its completion, the Central of Georgia was the longest railroad line in the country. Today, CSX remains an important transportation link between the thriving Port of Savannah and shipping destinations around the world.

Eleanor “Nelly” Kinzie Gordon, Daisy’s mother, hailed from Chicago. She wrote a The Chicago Massacre, a book about the experiences of her adventurous father, a government agent who worked on the western frontier and later Rosemary and Rue, a book of reflection in response to the death of her daughter Alice. Nelly had six children, with Juliette, known as Daisy, being her second child. She served elaborate Christmas dinners for the Gordon family at the Wayne Gordon House and was known in Savannah for her charm, wit and sharp tongue. Because of her efforts establishing a hospital in Miami for soldiers returning from the Spanish-American War, she was acclaimed across the country as the “Angel of the Boys in Blue.”

Daisy’s father, William W. Gordon II, (Willie) was a graduate of Yale University and a proud member of the Georgia Hussars, a Savannah militia unit, and entered the Civil War as a lieutenant. After the war, he served with the Georgia State Cavalry. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives 1884 - 1890 and entered the War of 1898 (the Spanish-American War) as a brigadier general in the United States Volunteer Army. At the conclusion of the war, he served on the Puerto Rican Peace Commission representing the United States, which oversaw the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the island. Although he never again ran for office, he maintained an interest in Georgia Democratic Party politics throughout his life. He worked as a cotton factor and commission merchant in Savannah. He was married Eleanor Lytle Kinzie (1835-1917). Their union was a long and devoted romance. The family story has it that Willie returned on the day of Nelly’s death to escort her home.

Margaret Gordon Lawrence (Daisy Gordon or Daisy Doots as the family called her) was the first registered Girl Scout in the USA and the niece and namesake of Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon Low. Daisy Doots was born in Savannah, Georgia. She was a member of the first Girl Scout troop, which was called the Carnation patrol. She was captain of their basketball team the year they received the Balfour Trophy for having won the Girl Scout basketball championship for three years in succession.

After Daisy Doots’ years as a Girl Scout, she went on to become a troop leader and a member of the Savannah Girl Scout Council. In 1937, while living in Huntington, West Virginia, she helped to organize the local Girl Scout Council and was its first Commissioner. She held this office until the summer of 1939 when she moved to Charleston, West Virginia where she became the Secretary the local Girl Scout Council a position she held for 10 years. As the First Girl Scout, Mrs. Lawrence was celebrated throughout the country. She christened the SS Juliette Low Liberty Ship in 1944. In her later life she served as a tour guide at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace much to the delight of the many visiting Girl Scouts.