Here Today; Next Away

By Jan Ferris Koltun

This memoir is about an intrepid woman who married a sea captain, built and airport and ran a large farm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350901498

Book preview

Chapter One: Here Today The Promise

All the Gibsons wrote postcards. This, which James Gibson mailed in June 1907, to his sister, Bessie, from his honeymoon on the Olympic Peninsula, revealed a benign pride and joy: Mrs. Gibson and I are enjoying the weather and look forward to seeing you back in Seattle.

He had a lot more to enjoy. On June 26, he had been married by M. A. Matthews, pastor of Seattle’s First Presbyterian Church where James was an Elder, to Adel Arta Parker, a lovely 1900 university graduate who had been a Levi Strauss Scholar at UC, Berkeley. The wedding was at 8:30 o’clock in her parents’ home, 3238 37th Avenue South, Seattle. His youngest brother, Edward, and James’ friend Dan Duryea witnessed the ceremony.

From the newspaper report: The bride was gowned in white hairline over white silk, and she carried bride’s roses. The maid of honor, Miss Bessie Gibson, wore white chiffon and carried white sweet peas. Ribbons were carried by the Misses Gibson, gowned in white. The rooms were beautifully decorated in roses, white and pink in the living room and hall, red in the library and dining room. The bride’s table was decorated in white and cream. Her going away gown was cream and brown with imported Panama hat of apricot and pink roses.

Adel Parker Gibson’s Wedding Gown

James’ sisters served as the bride’s attendants, amid a large number of relatives and friends. The newspaper account continued: "Miss Parker was a teacher at the Seattle High School and is a graduate of the University of California. Mr. Gibson is a member of the Security Savings and Safe Deposit Co. [He had previously worked for the Moran Brothers ship-building company, as Clerk of the Works on the Morans’ battleship Nebraska. James, who had emigrated from Canada in 1892, had brought some of his brothers from Canada to work on the ship, for which Moran Brothers in 1892 had awarded him a gold watch made by Waltham Watch Company. In 1897, Robert Moran, himself, had given James a second gold watch, made by Philippe Patek].