Eben was born on November 7, 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States in the year of the panic which ruined many merchants but which his father weathered successfully and with enhanced prestige. He was a descendant of Rev. Robert Jordan who came from England to the coast of Maine about 1641, was the son of Eben Dyer and Julia M. (Clark) Jordan. His father, country born and bred, had established through strenuous efforts the Boston drygoods firm of Jordan, Marsh & Company.
After attending Boston public schools he was sent to Adams Academy, Quincy, where he was prepared for Harvard College. He entered in 1876 with the class of 1880, but trouble with his eyes compelled him to leave college in his freshman year.
After a journey to California Eben entered his father's store. The impress of the younger Jordan's personality on Jordan, Marsh & Company was soon evident. He started in a humble job, packing and unpacking as a "lumper. " Having earned promotion into the retail department, he went to Europe as a buyer. Thereafter for several years he made two trips overseas annually, gaining an expert knowledge of British and Continental manufacture and methods of merchandising.
On February 1, 1880, he was admitted to partnership. During several years prior to his father's death, which occurred November 15, 1895, he carried most of the operating responsibility of the store. As president, after 1895, he continued to give close attention to the expansion of the business, destined to become, after his death, the foremost unit of a great department-store chain.
In 1909 the Jordans leased for a summer Inverary Castle, in Argyllshire, Scotland. The family so greatly enjoyed their experiences on a Scottish estate that for several successive seasons they leased Drummond Castle, Perthshire, one of the show places of Great Britain.
Jordan's active interest in musical projects was due both to personal inclination and public spirit. As a young man he had lessons in singing, and he developed so good a voice that but for his wealth and many responsibilities he might have sung professionally. His father was long a trustee and principal supporter of the New England Conservatory of Music, founded by Dr. Eben Tourjée in Boston in 1867. After the elder Jordan's death the son was urged to take a place on the Conservatory board. He acceded, at first reluctantly, but he presently found the problems of the school absorbingly interesting. During the period of uncertainty following Dr. Tourjée's death in 1891, Jordan personally had visited the studio of George W. Chadwick and secured him as director.
Jordan was later among those responsible for placing the Conservatory's business management in the capable hands of Ralph L. Flanders. He aided materially in removing the school from Franklin Square to a better location at Huntington Avenue and Gainsborough Street, near Symphony Hall.
He died at West Manchester, Massachussets, from a paralytic stroke, and after impressive services at Trinity Church, was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Eben Dyer Jordan financially supported the New England Conservatory of Music. He served as a Conservatory trustee until his death. Besides, he made it possible to include in its new building a fine concert auditorium, which was named Jordan Hall in his honor. His special fondness for vocal music made it natural for him to support a project - to establish opera in Boston. Mainly through his aid the present Boston Opera House was erected, at cost of about $1, 000, 000.
A less picturesque figure than his father, concerning whom many stories and legends persist in Boston, he was not less effectual and farseeing.
Jordan was married, November 22, 1883, to Mary Sheppard of Philadelphia, by whom he had two children. His tastes, like hers, were strongly domestic.
They maintained for many years a summer residence surrounded by a large landed estate at Chiltonville, near Plymouth.
