Résumé

Principal, James J. Gathercoal, Architect, Wilmette, IL, 1935. In 1935, his office was located at 124 Lockerbie Lane, WIlmette, IL. (See "The Height of Efficiency," Chicago Tribune, 05/19/1935, part 6, p. 6.)

Architect, J. Gordon Turnbull-Sverdrup and Parcel, Architects and Engineers, Saint Louis, MO, c. 1942. A legal decision involving Leif Sverdrup with the US Internal Revenue Service characterized the Turnbull-Sverdrup-Parcel association: "From prior to January 1, 1942, until May 8, 1942, [Sverdrup] was an active member of the engineering partnership of Sverdrup and Parcel...composed of the petitioner, John I. Parcel, and E.R. Grant. The partnership was originally organized in 1928, and the by the terms of a partnership agreeement dated April 9, 1935, the net profits of the partnership were shared as follows: Leif J. Sverdrup, 55 per cent; John I. Parcel, 30 per cent, and E.R. Grant, 15 per cent. During the year 1942 the partnership, as one party, and J. Gordon Turnbull, an individual of Cleveland, Ohio, as the other party, were engaged in a joint venture ...under an agreeement executed July 10, 1941. The joint venture was formed for the purpose of performing contracts which related to the national defense program of the United States. By agreement of the parties, such contracts, if mutually acceptable, entered into either by the partnership or by Turnbull, were to be performed jointly by both parties to the joint venture agreeement." (See Casemine.com, "Sverdrup v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue," United States Tax Court, published 05/16/1950, accessed 05/20/2022.) The firm designed airfields and airdromes for the US military in Australia and the South Pacific. The firm had offices in Saint Louis and Cleveland, as well as other offices in Saint Louis, MO; Edmonton, Alberta; Tulsa, OK; Kansas City, MO; Louisville, KY; Fiji (possibly Suva); Penhryn, Cook Islands; Tongatapu, Tonga; Noumea, New Caledonia; Auckland, NZ; Autitaki, Australia; and Townsville, Australia.

Principal, James Gathercoal, Architect, Corvallis, OR. Between 1955 and 1959, Gathercoal had an office in the Gathercoal Building at 129 North 4th Street, Corvallis, OR. (See Corvallis, Oregon, City Directory, 1955, p. 419 and Corvallis, Oregon, City Directory, 1959, p. 47.) In 1955, Corvallis, OR, had three architects listed in the city directory's classified business section: Gathercoal, Cleo H. Jenkins and Chris Jeppson.

College

The US Census of 1940 indicated that Gathercoal had completed one year of college.

Relocation

In 1940, Gathercoal had a residence on Lockerbie Lane in New Trier, IL. The US Census of that year noted that he had lived in the same house in 1935, and that it, in 1940, had an estimated value of $9,500, about double the local average. The architect lived at this address with this wife Cleona and their three children.

As noted on his World War II draft registration card of 02/14/1942, indicated that Gathercoal had a permanent residence of 124 Lockerbie Lane in Wilmette, IL, but that he had a current mailing address of 5592 Bartmer Street, Saint Louis, MO. At the time, he was working as an architect for J. Gordon Turnbull and Sverdrup and Parcel, a war-time association formed to build defense-related projects.

In 1946, James J. Gathercoal llived at 602 North 4th Street in Corvallis, OR. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Oregon State Library; Salem, Oregon; State of Oregon: Motor Vehicle Registrations, Passenger and Light Delivery, 1946 - Volume X, p. 12.)

By 1958, the architect and his wife Cleona had a house at 1161 East Grant Street in Corvallis. (See Corvallis, Oregon, City Directory, 1958, p. 180.)

Parents

His father was a carpenter, Frank H. Gathercoal (born in IL), and his mother, Nettie Louise Hewitt (born 02/26/1877 in York, ON, Canada-d. 10/05/1974 in Corvallis, OR).

Spouse

He wed Cleona Maisie Udell (born 01/04/1909 in IL-d. 01/08/1974 in Corvallis, OR) in 1928. Her parents were Paul L. Udell (born c. 1886 in IL), who worked as a newspaper publisher in Deerfield, IL, in 1920, and Letha Lillian Bennett (born 1885 in Breckenridge, MN-d. 03/07/1952 in Corvallis, OR), whose parents were immigrants from England. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Deerfield, Lake, Illinois; Roll: T625_381; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 248, accessed 05/18/2022.)

Shortly after his first wife's death, he remarried on 05/01/1974 to Juliet M. Bonnette (born 04/24/1926 in Plaucheville, LA). They wed in Clark County, WA. She was 22 years younger at the time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013, accessed 05/20/2022.)

This union did not last out the year, as they divorced on 11/19/1974 in Benton County, OR. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Oregon, U.S., Divorce Records, 1961-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, accessed 05/20/2022.)

Children

He and Cleana had at least three children: Elizabeth Cleona Gathercoal (born c. 1931 in IL), Dorothy Gathercoal (born c. 1936 in IL), a student at Oregon State College in 1958, and James J. Gathercoal, Jr., (born c. 1937 in IL), who served in the US Army in 1958. (See Corvallis, Oregon, City Directory, 1958, p. 180.)

Biographical Notes

Gathercoal was Caucasian with a "sallow" complexion. He stood 5-feet, 9-inches, and weighed 165 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair at age 37.

In 1946, Gathercoal drove a 1946 Nash automobile, according to OR State records. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Oregon State Library; Salem, Oregon; State of Oregon: Motor Vehicle Registrations, Passenger and Light Delivery, 1946 - Volume X, p. 12.)