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 OHN HURST, a retired farmer residing in
Lafayette Township, Coles County, is a
native of Harrison County, Ind., where he
was born Oct. 28, 1809. His family was of
German extraction, and his parents, Abraham and
Polly (Dunn) Hurst, were natives of Tennessee.
They subsequently removed to Indiana, and died
in Spencer County, that State. They reared a
family of eleven children, of whom John, the subject of this sketch, was the fifth in order of birth. John Hurst passed his boyhood and youth on the homestead, assisting his father in the various duties of the farm, and attending the log schoolhouse of the primitive days. His marriage to Miss Elizabeth Woodruff occurred in 1833. After this event he engaged in farming, and carried on a successful business until 1864, when he sold out his interests in Indiana, and moved to his present home in Illinois. On his arrival here he purchased 320 acres of land, which he managed successfully for many years, but the evening of life is now closing around him. and desirous of release from business cares, he has given the greater portion of his land to his children. Mr. Hurst has been twice married; his first wife died Sept. 10, 1874, leaving five children: Anna, John and Rhoda Jane are deceased; Plina is the wife of Jacob H. Wible, and Jackson. Mr. Hurst was married the second time in December, 1875, to Mrs. Sarah Mock. She was the mother of a large family of children by her first marriage. Mr. Hurst has been a successful man through life. He possessed excellent business qualifications, and acquired his prosperity through the exercise of industry and energy. At the time of his marriage he only possessed $115 in capital. His life is an example of what enterprise and integrity of character, united with industrious and temperate habits, can accomplish. Mr. Hurst has been for many years a member of the Methodist Church. In politics he is a Democrat. |
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