Biography of James Hurst, Tippecanoe County, Indiana

The founder of the HURST family in America was an Irish immigrant who married a French woman and was among the early settlers of Indiana. His son, THOMAS A., born near Madsionville, Indiana, in 1822, went with his family to Fulton County in 1844. He located on new land and farmed until his death in 1868. Of his thirteen children, all grew to maturity, and six are still living. Four of the sons served most creditably as soldiers for the Union during the trying days of the Civil war. After the close of the war two sons enlisted in the regular army, their names being ALLEN and WILLIAM, both now deceased. JOHN A. was in an Illinois regiment. STEPHEN A. and THOMAS J. were members of Company A, Twenty-sixth Indiana Regiment. JAMES HURST, the other Union soldier, was born in Fulton County, Indiana, February 26, 1847. When still a mere boy he enlisted, in February, 1864, in Company E., Eighty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which he saw much hard service before the final muster-out. He was with Sherman in his celebrated campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, took part in the siege and fall of that stronghold, went on the famous "march to the sea" and witnessed the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. MR.HURST is justly proud of his record as one of the defenders of his country, and receives an honorable pension of thirty dollars a month in recognition of his services. After leaving the army he returned to Fulton County, but soon removed to Tippecanoe which has ever since been the scene of his activities.

In 1867 MR. HURST married NANCY FREEL, who was born in Tippecanoe County, December 28, 1846, and has spent all her life in her native neighborhood. Her father, CHARLES FREEL, was a Union soldier in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-fifty Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and reached the rank of corporal. His son CHARLES was a member of Company D, Fortieth Indiana Regiment, and thus it will be seen that the HURST family have an unusually creditable military record on both sides of the house. MR. and MRS. HURST have had ten children, six living and four deceased; FANNIE, the eldest, is the wife of JAMES BOUNTY, of Lafayette; ANNA married NOAH JUSTICE, Jr.; CHARLES and GEORGE are residents of Lafayette; PEARL is the wife of FORD HOLSIMER, of this county, and WARD is a farmer in Tippecanoe Township. The family are members of the United Brethren church of Battle Ground, and MR. HURST belongs to John A. Logan Post, No. 3, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lafayette. In politics he is a Democrat, but not an office seeker and in no sense of the word a politician. He has always been devoted to farming, likes his calling and has done well at the business, though it involved much hard work. He is a good citizen and good neighbor, with the result that he has many friends and is generally esteemed.