Russell Hursh

RUSSELL HURSH has built up the largest hardware establishment at Macksville, and is business man of long and successful experience in his line. He is also the present mayor of Macksville.

Mr. Hursh was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1867. His father, John F. Hursh, was born in the same locality in 1828. He owned a farm near Harrisburg which had been handed down from one generation to another from the time of William Penn. The first American Hursh was a native of Germany, came to Pennsylvania to join the Penn colony, and was granted a tract of land by that great English philanthropist. John F. Hursh finally sold the land after it had been in the family name for a couple of centuries or more. In 1852 John F. Hursh took up a claim where the City of Omaha, Nebraska, now stands. In 1879 he moved to Pawnee County, Kansas, and was one of the pioneer farmers in that locality. He died in Pawnee County in 1888. At the time of his death he owned 1,120 acres. He was an independent voter and a member of the Masonic fraternity. John F. Hursh married Sarah Atticks, who was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and is now living at Larned, Kansas. Their children were: Lizzie, wife of D. B. Welch, a farmer in Pawnee County; Elma, who died in Pawnee County in 1888, wife of Rev. J. R. Burton, a Methodist minister; Grace Ford, who died at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1888, wife of C. M. Garver, who is now a farmer at Abilene, Kansas; Joseph, who died at the age of six years; Russell; and Edna, who died also at the age of six years.

Russell Hursh was twelve years old when his parents moved to Pawnee County, and he completed his education in the rural schools there. His home was on his father's farm to the age of twenty-five, and he then farmed for himself at Garfield, Kansas, until 1904. In that year he engaged in the hardware and implement business at Macksville, and continued a resident of the town for eight years. He then established a store at Pratt, but after three years sold it and in 1915 returned to manage his store at Macksville. He has a trade in general hardware that comes from a distance of eighteen to twenty miles. His store is large and well equipped, housed in a building 50 by 80 feet with basement the same capacity, and he also has a warehouse near the railroad depot. He owns his store building and other local property, including his modern home.

Mr. Hursh was elected mayor of Macksville in the spring of 1917. He is independent in politics. He is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is affiliated with the local lodges of Masons, Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of Pythias.

In 1892, at Larned, Kansas, he married Miss Rhoda Reed, daughter of J. P. and Georgia (Walker) Reed. Her parents live at Larned, her father being a retired merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Hursh are the parents of five children: Grace, born April 13, 1895, is a graduate of the Pratt High School, attended the college of Emporia two terms, and is now a teacher at Rozel, Kansas. Eugene, born June 18, 1897, is a graduate of the Macksville High School, and is now a student in the University of Kansas at Lawrence and at the close of the war was with the Students Army Training Corps. Edwina, born February 18, 1899, is a graduate of the Macksville High School and a teacher in the public schools of that town. Bertrand Walker died at the age of thirteen, and Florence, the youngest of the family, was born April 18, 1906, and is a student in the Macksville public schools.

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