William Gordon was a lawyer, politician, businessman, and three-term U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

Gordon was born on a farm near Oak Harbor

Oak Harbor, Ohio

Oak Harbor is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Oak Harbor is 30 miles east of Toledo. The population was 2,841 at the 2000 census...

 in Ottawa County, Ohio

Ottawa County, Ohio

Ottawa County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,428. Its county seat is Port Clinton and is named either for the Ottawa Indians who lived there, or for an Indian word meaning "trader"....

. He attended the public schools and Toledo (Ohio) Business College, and then taught school. Entering politica, he was the deputy county treasurer from 1887-189 and a member of the board of school examiners of Ottawa County 1890-1896.

He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 at Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 in 1893. Gordon was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Oak Harbor. He was the prosecuting attorney for Ottawa County from 1895-1901 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

 in 1896. He was a member of the Democratic State committee in 1903 and 1904.

Entering private business, he founded the Gordon Lumber Company. In 1906, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, and reentered politics shortly afterward. Gordon was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress, but was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1919. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1918 to the Sixty-sixth Congress.

Gordon reengaged in the practice of law until his death in Cleveland in 1942. He was interred in Oak Harbor Cemetery, Oak Harbor, Ohio.

Gordon was married September 12, 1893 to Elizabeth Gernhard, daughter of the sheriff of Ottawa County. They had two children.

Gordon was Knights Templar.