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Hi all,
First of all, a couple of definitions. By "Carroll County Hursts" I mean the Hurst family which was represented in Carroll County when it was formed in 1842, even though many of its members never lived in Carroll County. There appears to be no connection between this family and the Hursts who mainly lived in neighboring Wythe and Pulaski counties. Of course, both branches frequently crossed the county lines.
By "founders" I mean the original couple, William Hurst Sr., his wife Rachel Cummins, and their children. Two of the sons and two of the daughters who were in Carroll by 1850 have been generally accepted by most genealogists. Others have not been accepted by all, mainly because they never lived in Carroll. I will attempt to prove that these children should be included in the family.
My analysis of the age ranges in the various census records leads me to believe that William and Rachel were each born between 1775 and 1778.
William Hirst and Rachel Cummins were married in Loudoun County, Virginia, on 22 Jan 1798, with Rachel's father Joseph Cummins giving consent. Why, it might be asked, are we to believe that this couple soon moved to Southwest Virginia to found the family in question? First, I have not found any other couple named William and Rachel Hurst in Virginia in this period. (The "Hirst" spelling should not deter us. My 3rd great grandfather, Absalom Hurst, the founder of the Wythe and Pulaski Hursts, spelled his name "Hirst" in a religious freedom petition in 1776; on the same page his brother signed his name John Hurst. However, James Monroe Hurst in a letter dated about 1896 said that his father Samuel's (see below) name was originally Hirst.)
William "Herst" appeared in the 1810 Montgomery County census; in the same county that year was Joseph Cummins.
In 1923 a biography of William Reynold Hurst, a documented great great grandson of William Hurst Sr., appeared in The History of West Virginia, Old and New, published by The American Historical Society, Inc. William Reynold Hurst, who lived in Mingo County, West Virginia, was the obvious source for the information. According to the article " the original American progenitor settled in
Loudoun County, Virginia, in the early Colonial period. The family has been for many generations one of prominence and influence in Carroll County, Virginia."
So I think we have established that Rachel's maiden name was Cummins and that the couple came from Loudoun County. Left for the future is the possibility that William and Rachel came from or lived for a time in Maryland.
William Hurst was a household head in the 1820 and 1830 Wythe County censuses. Based on land purchases and leases in 1826, 1827 and 1835, William and his family lived mostly on Big Reed Island Creek, which is now in Pulaski County, very close to present-day Wythe and Carroll counties. William's estate was inventoried in newly-formed Pulaski County on 5 Dec 1839. His only connection to Carroll was one of the 1835 leases listed as being in Grayson County, but probably in what's now Carroll.
Since the census records before 1850 identified just the household head by name, Rachel Cummins has to be identified by the age ranges given. She was found with William in the 1810 - 1830 censuses, then probably with their son Jesse Thompson Hurst in the 1840 Pulaski census. Since she was not listed in the 1850 census, she probably died before then.
Now it's time to turn to the children. A good place to start is with the "Eden Harris Family Tree" on the Internet, which has a section "William Hurst Family Tree." It lists only four children, which I will discuss in turn: William, Catherine, "Jesse Franklin," and Lucinda.
William Hurst Jr., born 6 Apr 1803, was one of the two sons who were in Carroll by 1850. In fact, he bought land in Carroll in 1845. His 29 Jun 1894 Carroll County death record clearly identifies him as a son of Wm. and Rachel Hurst. It says he was born in Pulaski, which didn't exist then; so he might be listed as being born in Wythe. Since the family was in Montgomery in 1810, he might actually have been born there. He was no doubt one the three males under 10 in that census.
The only difficulty with William Jr.'s identification is that he is often shown as "William Joseph Hurst." In fact, he was listed as Joseph Hurst in the 1850 Carroll census, but that was probably just an error by the census enumerator. That entry is certainly for William, based on the names of the rest of his family. I'll discuss Joseph Hurst below. I have never seen an original document referring to "William Joseph Hurst."
Catherine Hurst, born about 1806, married Eden Harris in 1835. Eden and Catherine appeared in the Carroll censuses of 1860 and 1870.
"Jesse Franklin Hurst" is another conflated name. Franklin Hurst, born 11 Jul 1818 in Wythe, was identified by that name in Carroll census records from 1850 to 1880, deeds, children's birth and death records, and his own 15 Nov 1881 death record, where he was listed as a son of Wm and Rachel Hurst. He bought grain, as Franklin, from his father's estate, whose administrator was brother Jesse. I have seen no original document with the name "Jesse Franklin Hurst."
Lucinda Hurst, born in 1822, married Matthew Gardner in 1846. Lucinda appeared in the Carroll censuses from 1850 to 1880 as Matthew's wife or widow. She died in 1897 and was buried in Carroll.
It was recently brought to my attention that another Hurst daughter lived in Carroll. Mary "Polly" Hurst was born about 1806, so she may have been the twin of Catherine. Mary and Catherine were probably the two females under 10 with father William in the 1810 Montgomery census; the two females 10-16 in the 1820 Wythe census; and the two females 15-20 in the 1820 Wythe census. Mary married Jonathan Dickens in neighboring Surry County, North Carolina, on 21 Aug 1838. Jonathan was the household head in the 1840 Carroll census, with Mary no doubt the female age 20-30. Jonathan and Mary were in the 1850 Carroll census. In 1857 they sold out and then appeared in the 1860 Warren County, Indiana, census in the same precinct as her brother Joseph Hurst. Mary apparently died before 1870.
So we have now identified five children who actually lived in Carroll County. Next we turn to two or three sons who never lived in Carroll and thus are often not listed with the rest of the family.
Joseph Hurst was the eldest child of William and Rachel, being born about 1801 in either Virginia or Maryland. He was probably one of three males under 10 with father William in the 1810 Montgomery census and one of two males 16-26 in Wythe 1820. He appeared as a household head in Wythe in 1830 and Pulaski in 1840. In 1850 he was back in Wythe with wife Rachel and six children, whose mother was actually named Julia, based on an 1840 Grayson County deed. Joseph had only married Rachel Caudle earlier in 1850 in Carroll - his one clear connection to Carroll. By 1860 he had moved to Warren County, Indiana, where he lived in the same township as sister Mary and her husband Jonathan Dickens. I have discussed Joseph and his wives in two recent postings on the Carroll County RootsWeb message board.
The primary document which connects Joseph to his father and simultaneously connects and separates him from his brother William Jr. was the 8 Nov 1835 Wythe lease to "William Hurst Sr., Joseph Hurst, and William Hurst Jr."
The 1850 census said Joseph was born in Maryland; the 1860 census said he was born in Virginia. I'm still looking for a tie-breaker.
Jesse Thompson Hurst was clearly a son of William and Rachel. His Pulaski death record on 10 Oct 1876 said he was the son of Wm. and Rachel Hurst, gave his exact age, and said he was born in Maryland. The 1870 Lee County census twice (yes, the family was counted twice that year) specifically said he was born in Pulaski, but since Pulaski did not yet exist in 1812, he was no doubt actually born in Montgomery or Wythe. He told four census takers he was born in Virginia; I think that outweighs someone else, after he died, saying he was born in Maryland.
An undated publication "Franklin Hurst Branch of the Carroll County Hursts" by William J. Hurst claims that "William Hurst died in Pulaski County while living with his son, Jesse Thompson Hurst." The document also lists children William, Mary and Lucinda; but curiously omits Catherine.
Samuel Hurst was possibly also a son of William and Rachel, although the evidence is not nearly as clear as it is for Joseph and Jesse Thompson. Born in Virginia on 1 Sep 1808, he was possibly one of three males with William in the 1810 Montgomery census and the male 10-16 in the 1820 Wythe census. My best guess is that he was the one male 20-30 in Wythe 1830 in the household of his future father-in-law who was named - just to confuse everyone - William Hurst and known as "Big Bill." (This William Hurst was my great great grandfather.) Samuel married Lucinda Hurst on 16 Dec 1835 and was henceforth associated more with the Wythe County Hursts. He appeared in the Wythe censuses from 1840 to 1880. In the latter census, he said that his father was born in Maryland. (Note that the other children of William and Rachel living in 1880 said their parents were born in Virginia. I have never given much credence to where children thought their parents were born about 100 years earlier.) Samuel was on the same page and three families apart from his probable brother Joseph in the 1850 census. Although Samuel had no direct connection to Carroll, his land in Wythe was less than two miles north of the Carroll County line. Samuel named one of his daughters Rachel, possibly after his mother. The name Rachel had not previously been used for daughters in the Wythe/Pulaski Hurst line. Another daughter of Samuel was Lucinda, but that was the name of her mother as well as Samuel's possible sister.
The late Gwen Hurst, who worked on Hurst genealogy for 30 years, thought that her ancestor Samuel Hurst was the son of William and Rachel. She is the one who discovered William and Rachel's marriage in Loudoun County.
Some of the other children named their children after their parents and/or siblings. Joseph's children included William, Lucinda and Mary. William Jr.'s included Catherine Lucinda, Rachel, Mary, Jesse Thomas (or possibly Thompson) and Isaac Franklin. Catherine's included Jesse T., Samuel, William Franklin and Joseph. Mary had only three children: William, Jesse and Rachel. Jesse Thompson had Rachel and William. Franklin's included William, Jesse and Samuel. Lucinda had William and Rachel. None of these names was unusual, but the pattern was consistent.
I hope I have shown enough connections between William and Rachel and their children to be convincing. All the children lived in Carroll or just across the Wythe or Pulaski county lines. Their birth dates are consistent and easily fit into the age ranges of the early Montgomery and Wythe censuses. All but Mary and Samuel have at least one documented connection to William and Rachel.
The next step, which has already begun, to prove that all the possible sons were brothers is to test the Y-chromosome DNA of at least one direct male descendant of each son. Candidates have been located and contacted for each line except for that of Jesse Thompson Hurst.
Although I'm probably not related to the original William Hurst, I may be related to his wife Rachel Cummins. My 3rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Cummins Kelly, the wife of John Kelly. For a period of more than a decade the two families lived about seven miles apart in present-day Pulaski County. Elizabeth's daughter Catherine Kelly married Jesse Lindsey; they lived next door to the Hursts on Big Reed Island Creek. A grandson of William and Rachel married a granddaughter of John and Elizabeth. To prove this connection, I hope to use mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which tracks the direct maternal line. I have already determined Elizabeth Cummins' mtDNA by testing descendants of her daughters Catherine Kelly Lindsey and Martha Kelly Runyon. So now I need to find a living direct maternal descendant of Rachel.
Following are William and Rachel and their known and possible children in birth order:
1-William Hurst Sr. b. 1775-1778, VA, d. Bef 5 Dec 1839, Pulaski Co., VA
+Rachel Cummins b. 1775-1778, d. After 1840
...2-Joseph Hurst b. Abt 1801, MD or VA, d. Between 1860 and 1870
...2-William Hurst Jr. b. 6 Apr 1803, Wythe Co., VA, d. 29 Jun 1894, Carroll
Co., VA
...2-Catherine Hurst b. Abt 1806, VA, d. Bef 1875
...2-Mary "Polly" Hurst b. Abt 1806, VA, d. Bef 1870
...2-Samuel Hurst b. 1 Sep 1808, VA, d. 9 May 1881, Wythe Co., VA
...2-Jesse Thompson Hurst b. 28 Aug 1812, Wythe Co., VA, d. 10 Oct 1876,
Pulaski Co., VA
...2-Franklin Hurst b. 11 Jul 1818, Wythe Co., VA, d. 15 Nov 1881, Carroll Co.,
VA
...2-Lucinda Hurst b. 1822, VA, d. 1897
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