Résumé

Jacobberger lived and worked as an architect in Minneapolis, MN, before 1890.

Associate, A.R. Saunders, Architect, Tacoma, WA, 1890-1891.

Draftsman, Whidden and Lewis, Architects, Portland, OR, c. 1891-1895.

The architect moved to Los Angeles, CA, c. 1895-1900, likely to find work during the serious Depression that lingered over the US between 1893 and 1897.

Principal, Joseph Jacobberger, Architect, Portland, OR, 1900-1912. Jacobberger's firm enjoyed close relations with the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, undertaking various commissions for it.

Partner, Jacobberger and [Alfred H.] Smith, Architects, Portland, OR, 1912-1930.

President, American Institute of Architects, Oregon Chapter, 1917-1919; Member, Oregon State Board of Architect Examiners, 1926-1928; Oregon Architect License #0035.

Archives

Photographs of Joseph and Francis Jacobberger's work is held at the Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR; a finding aid is online via the Northwest Digital Archive (NWDA), Orbis Cascade Alliance, See: http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv89615 (Accessed 04/27/2009).

College

Coursework, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, c. 1887.

Relocation

Born in Alsace Lorraine, France, Jacobberger immigrated to the U.S. when he was a child. The sometimes reliable U.S. Census (of 1900) indicated that he had come to the U.S. in 1866, and had been naturalized before 1900. The 8-person household lived at 169 20th Street in Omaha, NE. At this time, Jacobberger's parents had six children and they also supported wife Josephine's 79-year-old father, John Knoney; the spelling of "Knoney" is undoubtedly wrong on the U.S. Census form.

Joseph went to school at Creighton University in Omaha and was listed in the J.M. Wolfe and Company City Directory (1889) as living in Omaha in 1889. He may also have lived briefly in Minneapolis, MN, before 1890. He lived briefly in Tacoma, WA, in 1890, before moving to Portland, OR, c. 1890-1891. Following his interlude in Tacoma, he relocated to Portland, working there for a few years, and then moved to Los Angeles, CA, c. 1895-1900.

He returned to Portland in 1900 and spent the remaining 18 years of his life there. In 1900, he lived with his family at 542 7th Avenue in Portland, at 500 Harrison Street, Portland in 1910 and at 200 Hewett Boulevard, Portland in 1920. He died of a heart attack at age 62, one day shy of his 63rd birthday.

Parents

His father was Hubert Jacobberger (born c. 1836 in France) and his mother was Josephine (born c. 1841 in France.) In 1880, Joseph had five sisters and brothers: Alphonse (born c. 1865 in France), Matilda (born c. 1875 in NB), Josephine (born c. 1876 in NB), William (born c. 1878 in NB) and Jennie (born in 07/1879 in NB). Alphonse, at age 15, already worked in a brick yard.

Spouse

He married Annie Lillis (born 08/1863 in OR). Her maiden name was some permutation of the word, "Knoney." She had been born in OR of Irish ancestry.

On 06/08/1909, Joseph married Catherine Jacobberger (born c. 1869 in OR) in Portland, OR.

Children

In 1900, Joseph and Annie had had four children, three of whom were alive: Hubert (born 06/1895 in OR), Francis (born 02/1898 in CA), and Vincent (born 05/1899 in CA). By 1910, two more children, Bertrand (born c. 1901 in OR) and Margaret (born c. 1903 in OR), had arrived.

Biographical Notes

Francis W. Kervick, in his Architects in America of Catholic Tradition, (Rutland, Vt., C. E. Tuttle Co. 1962), p. 70, indicated Jacobberger's birthdate to have been 03/19/1868. Henry and Elsie Withey, in their chronically inaccurate, Biographical Dictionary of Architects (Deceased), (Los Angeles, CA: New Age Publishing Company, 1956). p. 318-319, indicated his birthday to have been 03/19/1856. Richard Ellison Ritz, in his Architects of Oregon, (Portland, OR: Lair Hill Publishing, 2002), p. 206-207, stated it to have been 03/19/1867. According to the Northwest Digital Archive, (NWDA), his birthday was 03/19/1869. (See http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv89615 Accessed 04/27/2009).

According to the U.S. Census of 06/04/1880, Jacobberger was 11 in 1880, and according to that of 1900, he had been born in 03/1864, and had come to the U.S. two years later. The 1910 U.S. Census reported him to have been 42 and born in IA. The 1880 Census may provide clues to the real dates of Joseph Jacobberger's birth and entry into the U.S. Both Joseph and his elder brother Alphonse were born in France; Joseph was reported to have been 11 in 1880, putting his date of birth in 1869. The rest of his siblings had been born in NE six years later. So, one can deduce that the family came to the U.S. no earlier than 1869 and no later than 1875. A document declaring Jacobberger's French allegiance existed dated 09/19/1873. This document gave his age as four and his hometown as Lautenbach, Alsace, France. It also indicated that his home in 1873 was New York. It is likely that his family left Alsace soon after the 1871 defeat of the French by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The 1920 U.S. Census noted his date of arrival as 1920.

• Lautenbach, Alsace France (Architect's Birth)
  Lautenbach, Alsace France

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