Purcell and Elmslie, Architects Firm active: 1907-1921 Minneapolis, Minnesota :: Chicago, Illinois Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :: Portland, Oregon

Text by William Gray Purcell

Parabiographies entry dated December 29, 1908

From this day begins the long stretch of my first marriage.

Aside from the human relation, which proved unfortunate for all concerned, this new move set me in a wholly new environment, and formed very useful social connections, and then in time frustrated many of them.  The attempt to rectify this unhappy relation drove me into the Christian Science Church, a mental, emotional, social, and intellectual atmosphere in which I was not at peace, but from which I learned much of life and thought and humanity - and from which I was to derive much benefit to body and spirit.  It is not unlikely, however, that Christian Science both nearly murdered and then helped rescue me, for under other circumstances I should possibly have discovered that I had "t.b." [tuberculosis] in December, 1924, when it hit me so hard, although in fairness to possible obsfucations by Christian Science, three different life insurance M.D.'s missed it during physical examinations which they gave me between 1926 and 1929, notwithstanding the advanced symptoms which were more than evident.

My first marriage also brought me a loving and sympathetic father and mother, of sterling character and not too difficult in their very rigid patterns for daily life [Clayton F. Summy].  It also brought the Alexander business contact, a marvelous experience, a very profitable three years in cash return, and a lot of personal momentum up a road which practically wrecked my whole career, when it suddenly became necessary to stop and turn, in September, 1919.

The flight to Oregon at that time was, however, impulsed by the two most negative factors pressing on my life - this unhappy marriage and the growing crossness of my formerly affectionate father as he grew old. The Alexander debacle, and a divergence of feeling and opinion between George Elmslie and myself concerning the philosophy of architecture and its practical application in buildings to be built, were minor factors. Our architectural views could have been harmonized as our personal relations were happy and there was sincere mutual respect and tolerance between us, but had I remained in Chicago, instead of living my days in the more healthful outdoor world of Oregon and its more peaceful tempo, the "t.b." which I now know had shown itself in 1905 , 1912 , and again in 1917, although unrecognized at the time, would have no doubt finished me long ago.