The entire business career of Hugh J. Gourley of Warren, Rhode Island, has been associated with the textile industry, and has been marked by steady advancement in that field.
Hugh J. Gourley was born in County Armagh, Ireland, May 4, 1874, son of Isaac and Kathleen (Malloy) Gourley, both now deceased. The father, who was a farmer, was born in Scotland, and the mother in Ireland. The son grew up in this country and was educated in the public schools of Chicopee and Springfield, Massachusetts, and in the Springfield High School. For his industrial career, he prepared by a correspondence course and study in the New Bedford Textile School. His education completed, he entered the textile business with the Dwight Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, where he worked for five years. He then worked with the Jencks Spinning Company of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for six years, beginning as second hand and advancing to the position of overseer. His next position was in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as overseer and superintendent for the New England Cotton Yarn Company, with whom he remained for sixteen years. It was in 1916 that Mr. Gourley came to Warren, Rhode Island, and assumed the post of superintendent for the Warren Manufacturing Company. In 1918 he was made agent and was highly successful in this responsible position. In August, 1930, Mr. Gourley resigned. He belongs to the Southern New England Textile Association and the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers.
His fraternal affiliations are with Enterprise Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the George H. Lake Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; New Bedford Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; New Bedford Council, Royal and Select Masters; Thomas Smith Webb Commandery, of Providence, Rhode Island, Knights Templar; and Palestine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Rhode Island Country Club, and the Providence Chamber of Commerce, and a communicant of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Golf is his hobby. He is an independent in politics, and a director of the Warren Manufacturing Company.
In 1895, Hugh J. Gourley married Ellen Tomlinson, born in Sherburne, New York, and they are the parents of two sons: Thomas H. Gourley; and Hugh J. Gourley, who served in the United States Navy during the World War.