Post for Week 39

There was one member of Frances Perritt’s family who disappeared late in life. I couldn’t find his death record, his burial site, or the place he spent his final years until recently.

When I first met my husband’s family, including his great grandmother, Bessie Goughler, she spoke affectionately of all her three deceased husbands. George McClellan Goughler, the last of these three, was known to his grandchildren as Granddaddy Goughler. Bessie called him Mac, short for his middle name, McClellan.

Bessie married George McClellan Goughler in October of 1918 in Portland, Oregon.

Here is a copy of their return of marriage. Mac was about 11 years older than Bessie and he was 54 years at the time of their marriage. He was born in Pennsylvania on January 19, 1864.

I calculated his birth date from census records and this entry from his step granddaughter’s diary. Her entry from January 19, 1835, reads:

Tonight, Bill and Helen were over for dinner. It was Granddaddy’s and Helen’s birthday, so we celebrated.

from Rose Coursen’s diary written while she was living with Mac and Bessie in 1935

I found Helen Goughler birth certificate online. It was a typical adoptee certificate with the adoption parents listed as as parents. Helen birth date was January 10, 1906 which matches the newspaper story to follow.

McClellan, The Printer

Before both of his marriages, Mac was a member of the International Typographical Union. Mac Goughler ran to be elected to the executive committee for this organization. This was reported by the Oregonian newspaper on 29 March 1893.

Mac Goughlers name came up in another article, dated September 1, 1913. This article in the Portland Labor Press told stories about early members of this union and mentioned Mac.

It said that he was a job man and joked about his name. Here is the quote from the article. ”Mac Goughler’s ire was aroused because everybody persisted in calling him ‘MacGoogeler’ which was not his name by any means.”

Today, to google something means to look online for information about it. In the story, Mac’s friends were using a corrupted form of the word “goggle”. To goggle meant to stare with a wide-eyed look.

Mac did wear glasses.

Holly Press

McClellan Goughler and Chris Hansen were owners of Holly Press. Their print shop was located at 66 1/2 1st in Portland, Oregon.

Here are two photos of this print shop, Holly Press.

First Marriage

Mac married Daisy in Yamhill County, Oregon on July 4, 1984. They remained childless until Friday night, January 19, 1906. This is what happened as told by the Morning Oregonian a few days later.

Will Adopt the Baby

Mr. and Mrs. McClellan Goughler, living at 794 Clackamas Street, will keep the baby girl, which was left at their home Friday night, and have named the waif Helen. At 9:30 o’clock that night the doorbell rang, and on answering it, Mrs. Goughler (Daisy) found on the doorstep a baby, that at once won a place in her heart and home. There was nothing about the infant that might lead to the identity of the parents. It was wrapped up in an old blanket. The baby is about 19 days old, and is a healthy child, and Mr. Goughler is as willing as his wife to give it a home, as they have no children of their own. They have accepted the baby girl as a gift from the mother whoever she may be.

City News in Brief, Morning Oregonian (Portland Oregon)Wednesday 24 Jan 1906, p.9

Mac and Daisy Split

In 1913 and 1914 Daisy Goughler showed up in the society pages of Portland, Oregon newspapers multiple times. She attended and hosted events as Mrs. McClellan Goughler or Mrs. M. Goughler. Occasionally her husband, Mac attended with her. In 1916 society news of her decreased dramatically. It looked like trouble for the Goughlers. But Daisy was still listed as McClellan Goughler’s wife in the Portland City Directory for 1916. They live at 415 12^th Street.

In 1917 Mac and Daisy separated. Mac moved to the Lenox Hotel. He is listed in the Portland City Directory as being a resident of that building.  In 1918, Mrs. Daisy Goughler is living at a new street address- 389 Main Street, Portland, Oregon.

By 1920 Daisy Goughler had moved to Seattle, Washington. She worked for a corset company. On the 1920 census for Seattle, King County, Washington, Daisy Goughler is divorced and boarding with Jack and Emily Holmes.

In 1920 this date, their adopted daughter, Helen Goughler lived with Mac and Bessie.

The Studebaker

The same year that Mac and Daisy separated, Mac bought a 1917 Touring Studebaker. He registered the car with the Oregon Motor Vehicle Department. His license number was 10087.

Here is a photo of this car with Bessie and Mac taken a few years later.

Mac’s Years with Bessie

Here is a photo of Bessie and Mac before they married. They are at Multnomah Fall with some of Bessie’s siblings.

Their Residences

The census records showing Bessie and George McClellan Goughler as a couple include those from 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950.

In October of 1918 George McClellan Goughler and Bessie Reynolds Cabell Curtiss married and set up housekeeping together. They first lived at Bessie’s place, 410 Harrison Street in Portland. They were still there when the 1920 Census was recorded in Multnomah County, Portland, Oregon.

According to the 1920 census for this area, Rodolph W. Cabell, Bessie’s son, and Helen C. Goughler, Mac’s daughter, lived with them. Mac worked at his company, Holly Press which he owned with Chris Hansen. This record recorded Mac’s name as George M. Goughler.

By 1930, they had moved to the house on 47^th Street North. Mac’s daughter, Helen, still lived with them. The 24-year-old Helen taught music. This record values their home at $6,000.00. Here Mac gives his occupation as a printer of posters.

By 1940, Mac is no longer working outside the home. He and Bessie still live on 47^th Street. Their house is listed as 3415 NE 47^th. Mac’s name is recorded as George M. Goughler.

In 1850, this couple still live at the 3415 NE 47^th Street house. By this time Mac was 87 years and Bessie was 75 years. They had been together 32 years.

The Aging of the house on 47^th Street

Here are two more photos of their Portland home taken another angle.

Looking for Where Mac Died

The 1950 census record is the last record I have of Mac in Portland.

Looking for Where Mac Died

I did find George McClellan Goughler burial site but not where I expected. It was more than 10 years after I started looking. Death records for Washington, Oregon and California yielded nothing. He was not buried in the River View Cemetery where his wife, Bessie, was buried. He was not listed in the Social Security index. I searched area newspapers for his obituary.

For a long time, I felt like Mac had disappeared from Portland and Oregon altogether. But George McClellan Goughler had an uncommon name. I tried a global search on Find a Grave. I typed in only his name. A George M. Goughler came up. This George was buried in Evergreen Cemetery of Colorado Springs, El Pasco County, Colorado. A search of this city’s cemetery record showed the middle name as McClellan. A large sign for section 242 held many names. The burial date for George M. Goughler was given as September 10, 1952.

 As a result of all this looking, I found an institution in Colorado Springs that cared for old sick printers. George was a member of the International Typographical Union. He qualified for health care at the Union Printers Home.

George McClellan Goughler was the type of man an unwed mother would give her baby to raise. I feel sad that were no obituaries for him at the time of his death. So here I am, sharing Mac’s memories 88 years after his burial.