American architectural partnership formed in 1909 by William Gray Purcell (b Wilmette, IL, 2 July 1880; d Pasadena, CA, 11 April 1965) and George Grant Elmslie (b Huntly, Scotland, 20 Feb 1871; d Chicago, IL, 23 April 1952). Elmslie settled in Chicago with his family in 1884. After attending high school, he entered the office of Joseph Lyman Silsbee, where Frank Lloyd Wright and George W. Maher were already employed. In 1889 he joined the firm of Adler & Sullivan, becoming chief draughtsman in 1893. He continued in this capacity with Louis Sullivan after the partnership dissolved in 1895. In addition to the usual tasks of preparing contract documents and working drawings, he became increasingly responsible for the ornament that Sullivan lavished on the exterior and interior of his buildings. Elmslie produced many of the drawings for the ornament of the Guaranty Building (1894-6), Buffalo, NY, the Carson Pirie Scott Store (1898-1904), Chicago, IL, and the National Farmers' Bank (1907-8), Owatonna, MN, (see SULLIVAN, LOUIS, figs 1-3). In 1909, due to the lack of commissions in the Sullivan office, Elmslie left to join Purcell in Minneapolis.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
