Résumé

Principal, Barnett McDougall, Real Estate Agent and Money Broker, San Francisco, CA, 1860. McDougall worked from an office at 88 Montgomery Street in 1860. (See Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1860. p. 216.)

Principal, Barnett McDougall, Architect and Real Estate Agent, San Francisco, CA, 1861-1864. In 1863, Langley's San Francisco Directory (p. 248) indicated that McDougall operated both an architectural office and worked as a real estate agent. McDougall had an office at 328 Montgomery Street in 1864. (See Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1864, p. 272.)

Partner, [Barnett] McDougall and [John] Marquis, Architects, San Francisco, CA, 1865-1869. McDougall and Marquis formed in either late 1864 or early 1865. Between 1865 and 1869, their office was located at 328 Montgomery Street. (See San Francisco Directory, 1865, p. 303 and San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1869, p. 421.)

Principal, Barnett McDougall, Architect, San Francisco, CA, c. 1876.

Partner, B. McDougall and Son, Architects, San Francisco, CA, 1879- . Between 1880 and 1883, the firm of B. McDougall and Son maintained an office at 330 Pine Street in San Francisco. In 1881, they occupied Rooms #61-62. (See Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1881, p. 610 and Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1883, p. 1106.)

Relocation

Born in New York, Barnett McDougall resided in Tioga, PA, in 1850. He worked as a carpenter there residing in the James and W.A. Goodrich's inn along with a number of men in their 20s and 30s who worked as laborers or carpenters. Tioga and its vicinity was becoming an important lumber harvesting area at the time, with many jobs open to men in wood-related industries. There is also a "Tioga" (an Iroquois word meaning "at the forks) nearby in NY State. By 1850, NY and PA had become America's two largest lumber-producing states. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Tioga, Tioga, Pennsylvania; Roll: 830; Page: 93a, accessed 09/09/2025.)

McDougall settled in California in 1856, well after the start of the 1849 Gold Rush, and by 1858 a "B. McDougall" was listed as working as an agent for the Benzole Gas Company in San Francisco. (An address of 105 Dupont followed the employer's name, suggesting that it was its address. See Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1858, p. 197.) After 1858, he worked as a real estate agent, money lender, builder and architect primarily in San Francisco. His name first appeared in the San Francisco city directory in 1860.

In 1860, the US Census listed him as living in San Francisco, and working as an "agent," meaning he bought and sold real estate. He had a modest personal estate of $300. He resided here with his wife and two young children, Charles and Susan. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: San Francisco District 6, San Francisco, California; Roll: M653_67; Page: 438; Family History Library Film: 803067, accessed 09/09/2025.) He resided at 320 Ellis Street in San Francisco between at least 1865 and 1867. (See San Francisco Directory, 1865, p. 303 and San Francisco Directory, 1867, p. 333.) In 1864, Langley's San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing 1864 (p. 272) indicated that he lived on the north side of of Ellis Street, between Hyde and Larkin. This is in the neighborhood that would become known as the "Tenderloin."

The period between 1860 and 1870 proved very lucrative for architect Barnett McDougall. The US Census of 1870 indicated that the architect owned $40,000 worth of real estate and had a personal estate valued at $25,000, healthy sums for the time. (This compared to his $300 personal assets listed in the 1860 US Census.) The affluent McDougall household had ten people residing on Fulton Street in 1870, including the architect and his wife, their children Charles, Ellen, Benjamin, and George, as well as a boarder, Mary E. Swain, a domestic servant Catherine Tolon (born c. 1833 in Ireland), and four laborers, John Kearns (born c. 1845 in Ireland), Timothy McGrath (born c. 1825 in Ireland),, Joseph Vanner (born c. 1834 in England), and Patrick Burns (born c. 1840 in Ireland). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: San Francisco Ward 12, San Francisco, California; Roll: M593_85; Page: 869B, accessed 09/10/2025.)

Between at least 1869 and 1886, McDougall and his family lived on the southwest corner of Fulton and Divisidero Streets in San Francisco. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1869, p. 421 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1886; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 62; FHL Roll Number: 977213, accessed 09/09/2025.) As per the 1880 US Census, the McDougall household included the architect, his wife Susan, their children Nellie, Charles, Benjamin and George, as well as Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Swain (no longer a boarder but now an "adopted daughter," born 01/16/1853 in Petaluma, CA-d. 04/23/1921 in Sonoma County, CA), who worked as a saleswoman. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 79; Page: 456d; Enumeration District: 229, accessed 09/10/2025.)

The architect's name was listed as a resident of both San Francisco and San Diego Counties in 1890. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1890; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 76; FHL Roll Number: 977640 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1890; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 40; FHL Roll Number: 977094, accessed 09/10/2025.)

In 1900, the US Census located McDougall boarding in San Francisco with Edward Tipton (born c. 12/1866 in IL), a ship fitter, and his wife Catherine (born c. 1872 in England) on Fulton Street. The well-known architect William Curlett (1846-1914) lived nearby on Fulton Street at this time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 104; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0179, accessed 09/10/2025.)

He was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, CA.

Parents

Little is known about his parents, although they were listed as both having been born in Scotland in the 1880 US Census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 79; Page: 456d; Enumeration District: 229, accessed 09/10/2025.) They likely immigrated to the US and settled in NY, where Barnett was born.

Spouse

He wed Susan Ann Geer McDougall (born c. 1828 in Tioga County, PA-d. before 1900 in CA). Her parents Job Geer (born 05/06/1783 in Groton, CT-d. 03/21/1858) and Eleanor Campbell (born 1794 in PA-d. 04/05/1870 in Saginaw, MI) operated an inn in Lawrenceville, Tioga Couny, PA, in 1850. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Lawrenceville, Tioga, Pennsylvania; Roll: 830; Page: 119a, accessed 09/10/2025.)

Children

He and Susan McDougall had at least five children, of whom three of the sons became architects: Charles Campbell McDougall (born 06/1856 in CA-d. 07/12/1930 in CA), Susan McDougall (born c. 1860 in CA), Ellen "Nellie" McDougall (born 1863 in San Francisco, CA-d. 10/05/1898 in Bakersfield, CA), Benjamin Geer McDougall (1865-1937) and George Barnett McDougall (born 10/11/1868 in CA-d. 04/20/1957 in CA). Their child Susan McDougall was listed as living with the family in the 1860 US Census, but her name did not appear thereafter.