Slide Show of Previous Blogs & Other Information

If you would like to get an overall summary of my previous blogs, you can follow this link. This includes information from my blogs as well as other helpful maps in chronological order. Click here: John Gourley Slide.

Fort Bridger Cemetery, Fort Bridger, Uinta, Wyoming

John was buried at the Fort Bridger Cemetery in Fort Bridger, Wyoming. According to FindAGrave.com, he is buried in the "Woodman of the Word" section. 

Permission to share this photo from Harry Earl Dunn on Ancestry.com

This is John's headstone. It says:

FATHER

JOHN

GOURLEY

BORN

APR. 30 1831

DIED

APR. 13 1913

---------

AT REST

GOURLEY

John Gourley's Obituary

John Gourley died 13 April 1913. He was 83 years old when he died. According to his obituary in the Washington Press, he passed away due to the effects of a paralytic stroke. That was the second one that he had in the last year of his life. He was a well known resident, and was beloved by many. Below is an image of his obituary and on the right, is a podcast of a reading of his obituary. The author of the music in the podcast is: William McColl and the Orford String Quartet, Andrew Sawes and Kenneth Perkins, violin; Sophie Renshaw, viola; Denis Brott, 'cello.

 Wyoming Press no. 43, 19 April 1913, p. 5, column 2. 

Homestead

I found this photo in my grandfather's, Jack Gourley, things. I don't know where this photo was taken. My guess would be that it was taken at John Gourley's home in Mountain View, Wyoming. The caption of this photo written by Jack says, "Left to Right: Hired hand, Laura, Harry, John, and Lou. Katie Gourley is taking the picture." 

Marriage to Laura Baker

"Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937," volume 338, p. 2-9, entry 666; digital image, Ancestry (Ancestry.com: accessed 1 October 2016).

After Susannah died, Laura, Susannah's sister, stepped in to help John raise Susannah's children: Robert, James, Emma, Ida, and John (who was two at the time of his mother's death). John married Laura Baker the 23 December 1886 in Adams County, Iowa. Laura was also previously a mother to Samuel Gourley (son of John) and Charles Acton by 1886. [1] John and Laura always spent the winter months in Pomona, Los Angeles, California with John's sister and brother-in-law, William and Rachel Stewart. John and Laura built a home there to escape the Wyoming cold. According to my grandfather, Jack Gourley, John went to Alaska with William and Rachel for the Klondike Gold Rush. John came home before William and Rachel struck it rich. 

[1] 1880 U.S. Census of Douglas, Adams, Iowa, ED 9, p. 142A; digital image, Ancestry (Ancestry.com: accessed 1 October 2016). 

Susannah Caroline Baker (1837 - 1873)

John was 26 years old when he married Susannah Baker. They were married by her father, Judge Samuel Baker. According to my grandfather, Jack Gourley, Samuel Baker was the first judge in Adams and Montgomey County, Iowa. John and Susannah had seven children. Shortly after the birth of Emma Neal Gourley, Susannah died. John then married Susannah's little sister, Laura, and they had three sons.

Laura Rachel Baker Gourley
(1835-1923)

This is a picture of Susannah's sister, John's second wife, Laura Rachel Baker Gourley. I don't have a picture of Susannah. But if there's one out there somewhere, I would love to see it. 

Hunter and Guide

My grandfather, Jack Gourley, compiled stories about his great grandfather. In the compilation was written, 
"He was an expert hunter and guide. One season he killed 18 wild cats, 40 deer and a large number of wolves. He received $70 for the pelts. He paid his first taxes on personal property with the scalp of a wolf and had 15 cents left. He bought 520 acres of land. It was one of the best farms in Adams County, Iowa... He later sold his farm in Iowa and went to Wyoming where he built the first two story log cabin in For Bridger. Fort Bridger has a museum that holds many items and stories about John Gourley. The care-taker gave me a card of John Gourley's when I visited. John was a professional guide and took people into the mountains to hunt. He had a large ranch with a lot of horses and pack animals so he could outfit several groups at a time. He was always known for "getting the game" and having successful guide trips."

This is a copy of the John Gourley's business card that my grandfather, Jack Gourley was given by the care-taker of the museum in Fort Bridger, Wyoming.