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James Kemper Hurin (1814-1893)
JAMES K. HURIN.
The Life of the Courteous Old Merchant Brought To a Sudden Close
– He Met and Overcame Many Obstacles and Died the Possessor of a
Comfortable Fortune.
Died, October 9, 1893 of peritonitis, at the home of his kinsman, Mr.
G. T. O’Neall,
near Waynesville, Ohio. Mr. James K. Hurin, of Wyoming,
Hamilton county, in the eightieth year of his age.
Mr. Hurin, who had for a few days been a guest in the family of Mr.
O’Neall, was taken violently ill at 6 o’clock Saturday
evening, and died at 2:30 P.M. on Monday. For the first six hours of his
illness he was racked by intense pain, but from that time on suffered
but little and death came so slowly, with such insidious steps, that those
who watched by his bedside were led to believe that recovery was not only
possible but probable.
While riding with the writer only a few hours before the beginning of
his fatal illness, and on being congratulated on his apparent good health
and promise of longevity, he said: “I have no wish to live to extreme
age. My generation is gone. The faces which I look upon are those of strangers,
yet I do not repine; I await my Father’s pleasure, knowing that
He doeth all things well. My children and my friends are very kind to
me but still I am alone. When I am finally called hence I hope that it
may please the merciful Giver of all good to take me to himself at once,
without long weeks of suffering.”
His was a long and eventful life, rounded out into a calm and beautiful
old age. He was sick but a few hours and retained the use of all his faculties
up to the last. While the heart was slowly and feebly throbbing its last
pulsation, and the whole structure, like a piece of broken machinery,
was drawing near the final pause, reason still sat supremely upon her
throne. His life had been one of trust in his Savior and he had no fear
of death. He had made his peace with his God in his early youth and now
awaited the final change as peacefully and as trustingly as a tired child
awaits coming slumber. Without the movement of a limb, without the contraction
of a facial muscle, he closed his eyes and passed to the companionship
of his loved ones who had gone before.
His daughter, Mrs. Tyler, of Wyoming, arrived on the
first train from Cincinnati, and on Tuesday noon took the remains of her
father to Wyoming where the funeral, conducted by Dr. Taylor,
of Wyoming, assisted by Dr. Scott, of Lebanon, took place
on Thursday. Interment in Spring
Grove.
James Kemper Hurin was born in Lebanon, March 18th 1814.
He was the only son of Silas
and Agnes (Ludlo) Hurin. As the only son he was the pride
and hope of the household, and his parents, being devout members of the
Presbyterian church, determined their son should be prepared for the ministry,
the result of which was that he was given a much better education than
was commonly received by young men of that day, and which left its impress
on his mind, and gave wider and more liberal views of life than were held
by his contemporaries.
Business reverses overtaking the father changed the life plans of the
son. At the age of 18 years he entered the field of merchandise, first
as a clerk in the store of Robert Knox, next in that
of Shillito & Pullen of Cincinnati. Then for a period
of years in that of Geo.
Henderson, of Lebanon. On the retirement of Mr. Henderson
from business in 1837, Mr. Hurin, in conjunction with his brother-in-law,
Dr. Clements,
purchased the stock of goods and was prominent as a merchant in Lebanon
until 1853, when her removed his family to Cincinnati and engaged in a
general grain and commission business. At a subsequent period, perhaps
about 1855, he erected a large flouring mill on West Sixth street, which
he conducted with much success, shipping large quantities of flour, not
only all over the United States, but to Europe and South America.
The failing health of his wife, in 1886, caused him to retire from active
business, and her death following a year later, he closed his own house
in Wyoming and went to make his home with his daughter, Mrs. Tyler.
Although suffering many reverses in business, having twice had his mill
destroyed by fire and thrice flooded by water, his inherent energy and
business ability enabled him to surmount every disaster, and at his death
he left a handsome estate to his children.
Mr. Hurin was a gentleman of dignified, courtly manners, an easy, interesting
talker, and his genial sunny disposition made him a most enjoyable companion
and a universal favorite both with old and young. He was thrice married;
the first and second wives survived the date of their marriage but a few
months. To his third wife, Miss Cynthia A. Halsey, of
Springfield, O., he was married June 6, 1845. To this union there were
six children born; three sons and three daughters. The two oldest sons
are business men in Chicago. The youngest is a rising young attorney in
Findlay, O. One daughter is the wife of Reuben Tyler,
the well known circuit lawyer. The youngest sister is the wife of Mr.
Chas. S. Fay, the superintendent of the Wyoming public
schools, and one daughter is unmarried.
Source: "James
K. Hurin," obituary, Western Star (Lebanon, Ohio), Thursday,
October 19, 1893
Copy from the Obituary Collection at the Warren
County Genealogical Society, |
by
Arne H Trelvik
23 February 2015 |