b. April 16, 1842 Farmington, Fulton Co, Ill.
d. June 4, 1925 Pittsburg, Crawford Co, Kansas

Newspaper Articles

HURT IS GREAT HUNTER

By Mary Hurt Windsor

In 1868, George Washington Hurt and his wife, Mary Jane, came to the prairies of southeast Kansas in a covered wagon. They settled east of Pittsburg, on what is now known as Lee Hurt Road, or south 260th Street.

G.W. Hurt was born in Fulton, County, Ill., on April 16, 1842. Mary Jane Dilts Hurt was born in New Jersey on Jan. 22, 1849. They married on Feb. 22, 1867, and came to Kansas shortly thereafter.

They had two sons, C. Edward Hurt and James Arthur Hurt. They adopted a daughter, Lois Celesta Hurt Ledbetter. C. Edward Hurt had one son, Raymond, who also had one son, Robert Hurt. James Arthur Hurt had two sons, Lee Edward Hurt and Earl Offard Hurt, and a daughter, Juanita Hurt Hallam.

G.W. Hurt worked actively in the development of the social and industrial life of the area. He donated land for the Pleasant Valley School, served on the school board and filled other official positions. At one time, he owned and operated a livery stable in Pittsburg.

G.W. Hurt played bass in a three-piece combo of the 1871 era, formed by John W. Jennings and included Wallace Smith. John Jennings was schooled in music in his native New York before coming to Kansas. Neither Hurt nor Smith had studied music, but both had “good ears” for music. Jennings taught them to play the violin and bass. They played in the settlement that was to become “new Pittsburg” and in the surrounding area. Their music was in great demand. The musicians sawed away at the strings and stomped their feet almost every night of the week, weather permitting. G.W. Hurt was a great hunter in his day, according to his close friend, T.J. Crowell, and was known as the best shot in the district.

In the early days, he made several hunting trips to western Kansas for buffalo. His skilled marksmanship set a record of shooting and marketing 125 game chickens in one day, his market being 16 miles from his hunting ground.

He also gained much attention for his trap shooting. At one particular trapshoot, he made one of the highest scores. According to Dr. C.A. Dudley, who was shooting beside him, G.W. made a shoot of 25 clay pigeons without a missed target, and he remarked that it was “pretty good.” G.W.’s reply to Dr. Dudley was, “Well, if you’d been at it 83 years and couldn’t do as good, it was time to stop and take up something else.” G.W. was 83 at the time.

In July, 1883, G.W. represented Crawford County at a shooting tournament held in Ottawa. he stayed one day and participated in three matches. In one, he got first money; in another he tied for first money and in the third match he tied for second money. At a shooting match in Smelter the citizens purse of $50 was taken by G.W. over 10 competitors made up from some of the best shots in the county.

G.W. Hurt died at his home on Jan. 4, 1925, and his wife, Mary Jane, died on Dec. 4, 1933. Their grandsons, Lee Edward Hurt and Earl Offard Hurt were raised in the home of their grandparents from a young age. Lee Hurt lived his entire life within a couple of miles of the original homestead.

Lee had two sons, James L. Hurt and Rick A. Hurt, who both now live on Lee Hurt Road. Lee also had three daughters, Nadine Oeth, Wanda Wilson, and Mary Windsor.

There have been members of the Hurt family living on that road since 1868.

**Appeared in our local newspaper The Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun.

HURT WINS SHOOTING CONTEST

By Elma Peel Hurt

George Washington Hurt was the youngest child in a family of five born to Martin A Hurt and Margaret Crow (Cron).

He was born in Farmington, Fulton Co, Ill. on April 16, 1842.

G. W., as he was known, married Mary Jane Diltz Collins on Feb. 22, 1867 in Fulton Co, Ill.

G. W. and Mary homesteaded land 4 miles east and 1/2 north of Pittsburg, in Crawford County, Kansas about 1867.

They drove a team of oxen from Illinois. The farm contained 120 acres with an orchard of 800 fruit trees.

G. W. was well known throughout the area as an excellent shot with a rifle. Newspaper clippings document his trap shooting abilities.

One headline in the 1921 Pittsburg Headlight newspaper: “G. W. Hurt, 83, is High Gun of Club This Week”.

George W. Hurt, at 83, said he had undertaken the exhibition with some slight misgivings. “My eye is not quite as clear as it was 50 or 60 years ago.”

G. W. was a self-taught veterinarian and a bass fiddler in a 3-piece combo in the 1871 era. He had no musical training but had a “good ear.”

They traveled to their dances by horseback and the bass fiddle proved a bit of a problem to transport.

George Washington Hurt died June 4, 1925 at the age of 87 years. His wife, Mary Jane, died on December 4, 1933 at 84.

**Written by my grandma Elma Peel Hurt. Appeared in our local newspaper The Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun.

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