he delivered mail by horse drawn carriage in Sweden. When Jacob was 19
years old he emigrated to the United States and
arrived November 5,1904 at the age of 19. Jacob moved to Oakland
California with his Aunt in 1906. Mr. Gordh was baptized on December 31,
1906 at the Oakland Swedish Baptist Church. At the Oakland church,
he met a girl a beautiful girl named Edith Mattson. Jacob moved to
Portland in 1911 and went to work on a dam near Estacada. Then Jacob
returned to Oakland, California and married Edith Mattson on June 29,
1912. They arrived in Portland on July 18, 1912 and established their
home. They attended the First Swedish Baptist Church on NW 15th and Hoyt
Street. He was received into the church
membership by letter on December 12, 1912. Jacob Gordh received his
citizenship to the USA in 1913. He was a self-taught architect and
contractor,
and was involved in the construction of houses, schools, a fire station and projects
at Lake Retreat. His favorite projects were the building of
churches. Mr. Gordh helped build Temple Baptist Church in 1927 and was
pleased that he convinced the architect to change the Clackamas Street elevation
by recessing the large windows and adding the columns and peaked roofline,
rather than having a straight, flush wall and roof line. He built schools in Grande
Ronde, Carver, Forest Grove and a fire station in Willamette. Mr. Gordh
was also helped build the addition to Temple that was erected in 1962.
Mr. Gordh was a 64 year member of Temple Baptist Church. He directed the male chorus and Sunday School Orchestra, sang in the church choir and organized and directed the string band in which played mandolin. He served as a deacon and for 12 years was secretary of the church keeping minutes in Swedish before the church switched to English in 1936. Jacob and Edith had two
daughters, Ruth Marian Gordh Nelson and Alice Helen Gordh Roylance. They
also had two sons, E. Stanley Gordh and Donald Allan Gordh. A fifth child,
Florence died as an infant in 1918. They had nine
grandchildren and four great-children. Mr. Gordh died at the age of 90 on June 1, 1976.Mr. Jacob Gordh is mentioned in the historical account of Bethel Baptist Church in St. Johns.