Biography

An ar­ti­cle in The De­ca­tur [Il­li­nois] Her­ald, Au­gust 10, 1910, stat­ed Gour­ley was a gra­du­ate of the James Mil­li­kin School of Mu­sic in De­ca­tur. Copyright re­cords show him liv­ing in De­ca­tur in 1918.

Based on name, lo­ca­tion, and time­frame, it seems like­ly this com­pos­er is Roy James Gour­ley (1874–1936), who is bur­ied in Spring­field, Il­li­nois. Spring­field is on­ly 35 miles from De­ca­tur.