Vernon L. Teaff

REUBEN HURT son of Joseph Jr. and Mildred Burnett Captain Reuben Hurt, was born in Wayne Co. KY on 24 November 1819. He was the son of Joseph & Mildred (Burnett) Hurt Jr. Captain Reuben Hurt was reared on the homestead in Kentucky, and about 1840, he purchased a farm in Clinton County, Kentucky. He purchased mules and cattle and drove them overland to Atlanta, Georgia. He was in Atlanta on one of the trips at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. His entire herd of cattle and mules were confisticated by the Confederate government, and the notes that he had taken in payment for the stock became worthless. Thus, he met with severe financial reverses as a result.

Upon his return home he enlisted for service in the defense of the Union and was commissioned first lieutenant of his company in the 12th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. He was with his command in the army of General Sherman and participated in the various engagements of the historic Atlanta campaign, including the Battle of Atlanta. His son, Lieutenant Joseph Hurt, while questioning Confederate prisoners after the battle of Resaca, had occasion to talk with a lieutenant who gave his name as Reuben Hurt. He turned out to be a son of one of the brothers of Reuben Hurt who had been long removed from Kentucky to one of the states farther to the south. (Probably the son of John Crawford Hurt the brother of Reuben.) The young Union and the young Confederate officer having thus been first cousins. While en route to Atlanta with his command, Lieutenant Reuben Hurt, of the Union forces, was promoted to Captain. He was granted leave of absence( and the day after his return to his home he was shot and killed by Confederate guerillas on 24 Jan 1865. He was buried in Hopkins Cemetery in Clinton Co. Kentucky. He and his five sons were all officers in the Union Army. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Sallee, likewise was born in Wayne County, Kentucky a daughter of Moses and Anna Sallee. She long survived her husband, having gone with her children to Kansas in 1869 and having been one of the loved pioneer women of Chanute, Kansas at the time of her death.

Of her fourteen children, twelve were raised to adulthood. Five of her sons were officers with the Union Army in the Civil War: Harrison, Joseph, Martin, Moses and John. The last mentioned having been killed by Confederate guerillas.

Mrs. Anna Hurt went to Kansas and was accompanied by her younger children. They remained for a time in Missouri and then went with wagon and ox team to Neosho County, Kansas where the family camped the first night on the open prairie now marked by the city of Chanute. Anna died on 4 Feb 1900 in Chanute Kansas and is buried there. Their children were: Harrison, Joseph, Martin, Moses, John, Syrena, Lucinda, James, Jefferson, Mary, Pleasantf and Granville.

(from Kansas State & People by William Connaly, pages 1146-1147. Published by the American Historical Society, 1928.)

Submitted by Vernon L. Teaff
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