One Mystery Solved...

as another mystery emerges: Although I am now in possession of solid proof that George Wallace Hurley served as the elected Sheriff of Harper County, Oklahoma, the very same "proof" throws into doubt the identity of George's mother.

According to a biography printed in the book Oklahoma: A History of the State and Its People (1929) (see below), George's mother was not Eliza, but rather Catherine Hurley.

My readers are by now familiar with Eliza Hurley (nee Gunter): United States censii identify her as the wife of David T. Hurley, and thus as George Wallace's mother. Eliza passed away in Erath County, Texas, near a fork of the Chisholm Cattle Trail upon which a youthful George supposedly herded longhorns out of Texas, north to Kansas.

George Wallace eventually would settle, according to later censii, in the area of Woodward and Harper Counties, Oklahoma.

It was in Harper County that he was elected in 1922 as Sheriff -- an office he held until 1927.

Appearing at the bottom of this post is an outstanding photo of Sheriff Hurley sitting atop a horse, wearing a period-correct suit, hat and mustache. 

Further proof confirming George's tenure as Sheriff of Harper County will be posted soon.

In the meantime, who is Catherine Hurley? Could she -- and not Eliza -- be George's real mother?

That mystery remains unsolved.

For now, let us enjoy a biography of George Wallace Hurley, excerpted from the book Oklahoma: A History of the State and Its People (1929):

SON OF AN ARKIE REBEL: The Life of George Wallace Hurley

[Battle Flag, Company K, Infantry, 15th Regimen Arkansas (Northwest), Confederate Army, from which Sergeant David T. Hurley would go missing -- likely a prisoner-of-war -- during the October 1862 Battle of Corinth, Mississippi.]

1850: David T. and Eliza I. Hurley(fn. 1) (nee Gunter) -- parents-to-be of George Wallace Hurley -- reside in White Oak Township, Franklin County(fn. 2), Arkansas.

[1850 US Census]

Notably, this census confirms the surname -- and to a somewhat lesser extent, the ethnicity -- of Eliza Hurley: Sharing the family home with 31-year-old David T. and wife Eliza is 70-year-old Archbala Gunter, whose relation is listed as "Mom."

Eliza's mother Archbala Gunter, born circa 1780, lists her place of birth as North Carolina.

Intriguingly, Archbala's given home state of North Carolina partly embraces the northern terminus of Cherokee ancestral lands, whose native inhabitants were "removed" westward upon passage of the federal Indian Removal Act of 1830.

She and daughter Eliza would thus seem to have passed significant Cherokee heritage on to George Wallace Hurley and his lineage.

[Fn. 1: The family surname on this census apparently is mis-spelled "Hearly," or perhaps "Hearby." I believe this census recorder was attempting to spell "Hurley" via the initial "H" followed by the phonetically correct "early" -- a mis-spelling which will return in the 1870 US Census, below. Further supporting the theory that the surname is mis-spelled, a Google search all but completely rules-out both "Hearly" and "Hearby" as known surnames.]

[Fn. 2: The 1850 US Census relied upon lists the family's location as Township White Oak, County of Jefferson. The County of Jefferson designation I believe to be error, and the family's correct location to be Township White Oak, County of Franklin, because: (1) no such White Oak township exists in Jefferson County; and (2) a White Oak township does exist within Franklin County, wherein the family's residence is recorded in the 1860 US Census.]

~*~*~*~

1860: It's one year prior to the outbreak of the US Civil War. Head-of-household David T. Hurley and wife Eliza are quietly raising a growing brood of "early Hurleys" in Franklin County, Arkansas.

[1860 US Census]

Perched on the Northwestern outskirts of the Confederacy, the state of Arkansas is solidly rebel: 1860's Arkansans so revile reformist presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln that his name is absent from the 1860 statewide ballot.

The Hurley homestead, meanwhile, seems peaceful and prosperous: Wife Eliza, aged 32, remains of child-bearing age; she and husband David T., a carpenter, have indeed recently welcomed into the family four-month-old Robert Hurley.

And another is on the way: This 1860 US Census roll depicted above is recorded November 24, 1860 -- one month after George Wallace Hurley is conceived(fn. 3).

The outbreak some six months later of war between the North and South poses no initial threat to the family. David T. Hurley, at the age of 41, is six years too old to serve.

But this would change. Beset by heavy casualties, the Confederacy would expand soldier eligibility to the age of 45 on September 27, 1862.

[Civil War record of D.T. Hurley.]

Bidding goodbye three-month-old son George Wallace Hurley and family, David T. Hurley would join the 15th Regimen, Arkansas Infantry (Northwest), deploying to the bloody Second Battle of Corinth, Mississippi.

["Missing," and never to be seen again: The final record of D.T. Hurley at the Battle of Corinth, MS, 1862.]

A rebel meat-grinder, the Battle of Corinth would deliver devastating Confederate losses. Sergeant David "D.T." Hurley is recorded among the 1,763 "captured/missing" rebel casualties at the pivotal Corinth theater of October 3-4, 1862.

[Fn. 3: Born July 27, 1862, George Wallace would have been conceived around October 27, 1861.]

~*~*~*~

1870: Widow Eliza Hurley (here tellingly mis-spelled "Hearly") has migrated to Lamar County, Texas, along with eight-year-old George W. and family:

[1870 US Census]

Intriguingly, one anonymous contributor to Eliza's Findagrave memorial proclaims the city of Paris, Lamar County, Texas, to be George Wallace's place of birth.

Did a widowed Eliza Hurley, pregnant with son George W., indeed move over 200 miles from Franklin County, AR to Lamar County, TX?

Or did she move the family soon after George's birth?

This unresolved debate seems to explain George W's lifelong confusion concerning his state of birth.

~*~*~*~

1871-1900: Here we are confronted with a stubborn, recordless, nearly 30-year gap in the life of George Wallace Hurley.

[The fabled Chisholm Trail.]

According to fairly solid family lore, George W. spent some or all of these years as a cowboy on the Chisholm Trail (fn. 4).

Winding through the heart of Texas, Indian Territory (modernly the state of Oklahoma), and terminating in central Kansas, the Chisholm cattle drive -- named after Scots-Cherokee trader Jesse Chisholm -- would seem a fitting workplace for part-Cherokee George W. as a young man.

Mom Eliza Hurley's final resting place in Stephenville, TX, is near, but apparently not located directly along, the Chisholm Trail.

[Headstone, gravesite of Eliza I. Hurley, Stephenville, Erath Co., TX]

Eliza I. Hurley passed away on November 18, 1876, of unknown causes, at the age of 49. Her gravesite, depicted above, is located at the Pony Creek Cemetery, Stephenville, Erath County, Texas.

[Fn. 4: My father Gerald L. Hurley, b. 1938, who as a young man met George Wallace Hurley in Bucklin, KS, was told by his dad, mom and other family members that George Wallace drove cattle along the Chisholm Trail beginning at a very young age. A similar "legend" -- namely that George Wallace spent his younger years as "a real-life Texas cowboy" -- was passed on to other family members by George Wallace's daughter-in-law, Myrtle Lucille (Heikes) Hurley.]

~*~*~*~

1900: George Wallace, 37-years-old and married to Millie Eudora Hurley (nee Herring) in the year 1900 resides in the "panhandle" of Woodward County, Oklahoma.

[1900 US Census]

This household is shared by Millie's father, John W. Herring.

~*~*~*~

1910: Now aged 47 and still residing in the Oklahoma panhandle, George Wallace and wife Millie Eudora (aged 38) are parents to my paternal grandfather, listed here as "George L.H. Hurley," or "George Lawrence Haskell Hurley."

[1910 US Census]

~*~*~*~

1920: The outset of the 'Roaring 20s,' finds George Wallace Hurley living within the household of son William Ira Hurley, in Harper County, Oklahoma panhandle.

[1920 US Census]

But what has become of George's wife Millie Eudora (Herring) Hurley?

Leaving George Wallace a widower, she has passed away, of unknown causes, in 1914 at the age of 43.

[Headstone, gravesite of Millie Eudora (Herring) Hurley, Carrier, Garfield Co, OK]

~*~*~*~

1929: George Wallace Hurley, aged 66, is a widower no more: On a cold January 8th of this year he marries 48-year-old Grace M. Shaw, in Woodward, Oklahoma.

[Marriage license]

~*~*~*~

1930: Their marriage, for unknown reasons, would prove to be a brief one: By 1930 George Wallace Hurley is again a single man -- apparent by his status as "Lodger" while residing in what seems to be a boarding-house situation in Harper County, Oklahoma.

[1930 US Census]

~*~*~*~

1951: George Wallace Hurley, born July 27, 1862 (in either Arkansas or Texas) -- the Son of an Arkie Rebel -- is laid to rest at Bucklin Cemetery in Bucklin, Kansas, having passed away at the age of 88 on June 9, 1951.

[Headstone, gravesite of George Wallace Hurley, Bucklin, Ford Co., KS]

May he rest in peace.

GWH's father FOUND???

A cousin tells me that the mystery has been solved! According to a cousin, GWH's father was one D.T. Hurley, who appears on an 1860 census of Franklin County, Arkansas. Here's what his and wife Eliza's family looked like that year:

355 D T Hurley 40 m TN
Eliza 32 TN
M M 14 MS
William B 12 MS
Perrisca ? 10 f AR
David T 7 AR
Abner W 4 AR
Kansas 3 m AR
Robert H 4/12 AR

I hope to have actual census images linked shortly.

In the meantime, does anyone else care to weigh-in on this "discovery"?

Interesting Census

In 1930 GW's son Samuel, then a 36-year-old auto mechanic with his own large brood, told census takers -- apparently incorrectly -- that his father was born in Texas, while his mother was born in the "United States".

This is odd because most (all?) other censii recording the early whereabouts of GW's wife, Millie, establish her place of birth as Texas.

Researching the Early Whereabouts of George Wallace Hurley

George Wallace Hurley (b. July 27, 1862 d. June 9, 1951) was my great-grandfather. His son, George Lawrence Haskell Hurley was my grandfather, and Gerald Lawrence Hurley is my dad. But GW is the earliest known Hurley male in my lineage. Who were his parents or siblings? Nobody in my family seems to know. Answering that question is the purpose of this blog.

Three U.S. censuses (1900 OK, 1910 OK and 1930 KS) definitely record GW's whereabouts. But when asked where he was born he gives a different state on each census (Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi), making my research a bit tougher.

I have it on pretty good authority that GW was actually born in Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas. We know he was born in July of 1862, but unfortunately, neither birth nor death certificates were required in AR until 1914. So actually proving his birth or his father's death is tricky.

What follows is some research I've recently done, along with a few leads that might pan out. First, the fact is that if everyone was to extend their family tree out far enough, eventually we're all related. So, someone is eventually going to build their family tree out to GW for me -- I just have that hunch. Secondly, there are a lot of amateur genealogists out there who are cataloging all manner of early records, from deeds to court records to everything else you could imagine. One such guy happens to be concentrating on Franklin County, Arkansas!

Okay, so family trees. On the website Ancestry.com, where I do my best digging, members are allowed to create family trees. (The links I provide are to screen shots of the websites I'll be discussing.) One individual has created a tree that purports to show the parents of GW, although the mother, Margaret A. Herring, is certainly incorrect, so it casts some doubt on the father's name. (Because MH is shown on the 1910 OK census in the capacity of "mother", this person incorrectly assumes that MH is GW's mother, when in fact she is his wife, Millie's, mom). But where did this person get the father's name? It lists a William C. Hurley, b. 1830, as the father. This is interesting, but unsourced. We can still do some digging though.

Another person claims GW's parents were Asa C. Hurley and Caroline Evans. I've dismissed this theory because this clan of Hurleys was based on Tennessee, both before and after the 1860 census. They did, however, have among them a George W. Hurley that was born in 1862. But I really don't think this is our GW, both because GW never claimed to have been born in TN, and because this family is too large. The legend is that GW's dad was killed by Indians when he was two-years-old, and his mother fell ill and sent him off into the world when he was 12. GW is thought to have had one sibling, a brother, at the most.

I say GW was born in Ozark, Franklin County, AR. I say that because three different apparent cousins of mine have posted it on the web. (Here, here and here.) So I'm thinking they must know.

So GW was born in 1862, and his dad supposedly died when he was two. Based on the first family tree linked above, were there any William Hurleys in AR in 1860? Well, there was exactly one William Hurley living in AR in 1860, and in that year he is 13 years old, and has a sibling (cousin?), Rachell Hurley, who is 15, and another relative, Araminta, who is 7. Kind of unlikely, though, to be GW's father, because of his young age.

What about Hurleys living specifically in Franklin County, AR in 1860? I did find this family which lived in Franklin County and, intriguingly, includes a "Wm. Hurley", although his age at 12 is probably too young to father GW two years later. And I don't see any other males in that family who are old enough to be GW's dad.

Going back to 1850, there is an AR-based William Hurley, b. 1833, with a whole mess of kids. It kind of seems unlikely to be GW's father, though, because of the huge family. (GW supposedly died a widower, with no contact from siblings or others upstream.) How could he have all these relatives, then be all alone later in life? Then again, this same family includes a 17-year-old William Hurley born in Alabama. In 1862 he would be about 30, which is an ideal age to be GW's father. Unfortunately, this WH seems to be absent from the 1860 census which, if he was GW's father, would have been his last, based on the theory that he was killed when GW was two (i.e., ca. 1864.)

So that's where I am. Three possible angles to explore would be to contact the county clerk in Eastland County, TX. This is where GW and Millie were supposedly married. Might they have a marriage license on file? GW might state his parents' names.

Another angle would be to contact the sheriff of Harper County, OK, where GW had supposedly once been sheriff. Maybe they have records going back that proves he held that office.

Finally, I could contact the Ford County, KS clerk, who might have a death certificate for him. This might shed some light on his heritage.

I will post more to this blog as leads develop. If you know anything, leave a comment!