The Hurd Sisters: Annie, Hattie, Edith and Winnie in Virginia City, Nevada 1888.
Picture shared by Mimi Swaney (Great Granddaughter of Winnie Hurd) on Ancestry.com.
I am amazed at the sweetness of this picture, and equally amazed that it even exists. It is in the collection of family pictures shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com. Her Great Grandmother was Winnie Hurd. She assured me that names were written on the back, so I am pretty confident these are accurate. The pictures were handed down to Mimi through Alta Powers, Hattie's daughter.
These are my Great Great Aunties, sisters to my Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows. They had two more older sisters that lived with them on the Comstock, Ella Mae and Carrie Hurd. Here are their stories....
Ella Mae Hurd (born 16 April, 1860 Nevada City, California--died 14 June, 1914 Butte, Montana). Ella Mae was born between Frank Hurd and William George Hurd while the family was living in Nevada City. She lived with her family in 1870 in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, aged 11. The 1878 Virginia City Directory listed her as a teacher at the 1st Ward School on the north end of town. On the US Census of 1880 she was listed as living on Sacramento Road in Virginia City, Nevada with her mother Harriet, her oldest brother John, her brother Frank, and her five younger sisters. The Fourth Ward School website lists her as a teacher during the school year 1879-80.
Ella Mae married Nelson B. Hutchinson in Virginia City on 5 May 1881. Several children were born in Virginia City, and then the family moved to Butte, Montana. (Sometime between 1880 and 1894 Ella's older brother Frank had moved to Butte, also). Nelson was a machinist in a copper mine. Ella and Nelson had at least 6 children. Nelson Jr. worked as a stationery engineer at a copper mine, then there was Veva, William (he also worked in the copper mine), Alfred (a soldier in WWI and a miner in a quartz mine), Winnifred (she died at age 5), and Edith. It is interesting to note that Nelson was born in Pennsylvania.
Annie and Ella Hurd in Virginia City, Nevada. Annie is the younger of the two, I believe on the left. Picture shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com
Carrie Amelia Hurd (born 17 February 1864 Nevada City, California--died 9 May, 1926 San Francisco, California). Carrie was born in Nevada City, moved with her family to Mahanoy, Pennsylvania in 1870, and then back to Virginia City, Nevada. The 1880 US Census lists her age as being 16 years old. The Fourth Ward School website lists her as a graduate in the 1880-81 school year (she must have graduated at the age of 17). It also lists her as a teacher in the school year 1884-85
On 6 October, 1886 Carrie married Fred W. Clough (pronounced Cluff) of Amador County. Strangely enough, Fred was the son of Orson Clough by his second wife. His first wife was Sara J. Bluett. Sara Bluett was the sister of Harriet Bluett, Carrie's mother. Carrie's older brother William George was living in Amador County (Volcano) in the 1870's until his death in 1880 from tuberculosis. Carrie and Fred lived in Angels Camp, Calaveras County, California, where Fred was a hoist engineer in a gold mine. They had one son, Lawrence F. Clough, born in 1891 and who sadly died in 1916 in Angels Camp. I am unable to find his cause of death. In the 1900 US Census Carrie's nephew Roy Burrows (Elizabeth Jane's son) was living with the family in Angels Camp, working as a laborer. Family connections were obviously very important to the Hurds.
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Written on back "Aunt Carrie Clough Angels Camp Mother's sister".
Most likely written by Vere Burrows Hansen (my collection). I think she looks very much like her sister Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows!
Winifred Melvine Hurd (born 3 September, 1868 Nevada City, California--died 29 August, 1932 Reno, Nevada). Winifred was the last child born in Nevada City before the Hurd family moved back to Pennsylvania. She was 12 years old in 1880. I am not able to find any information on where she attended school or where she graduated.
On 6 July, 1896, she married Morrill Joseph Curtis in Virginia City, Nevada. He was almost 20 years older than Winifred and had been previously married twice. His first wife passed away in 1882 at the age of 31, leaving a son. His second wife, Emma Pixley, died in 1895 also at the age of 31 years. Their daughter was Eugenia Curtis Dolley. Winifred and Morrill had three sons: Elbert Dean, Melvin J., and Allen B. Curtis.
Winifred Hurd Curtis taken in Reno Nevada. Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com. This is Mimi's Great Grandmother. Picture taken before the turn of the century, possibly around 1892 when Harriet Hurd died.
Morrill became known for being a prolific architect, designing many civic buildings in Nevada. He also designed the Goldfield Hotel (Goldfield, Nevada) and the Mizpah Hotel (Tonopah, Nevada). His second father-in-law was Seymore Pixley.
His most recognized building is perhaps Morrill Hall, the first building of the University of Nevada, Reno. Constructed in 1885-86. Photo courtesy of University Archives, University of Nevada, Reno Archives. The building was named in honor of Congressman Justin Smith Morrill who established the Land-Grant Colleges through the Morrill Act of 1862.
M. J. Curtis died in 1921 and was originally buried in the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco. His grave was eventually moved to Colma, California along with the rest of the cemetery.
Annie Hurd (born 2 July, 1871 Mahanoy, Pennsylvania---died 11 September 1962 Reno, Nevada). Annie was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virginia City with her family. She was 4 years old when the fire swept through Virginia City and she was 5 years old when her father was killed in the Ophir Mine.
Annie Hurd taken in Pennsylvania before coming to Virginia City. Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com
Annie Hurd Virginia City, Nevada. Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com.
I was not able to find any information on where she went to school, but I did find a graduation picture of her on Ancestry.
Annie Hurd graduation Shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com
The 1900 US Census listed her as living with her older sister Winnie and her brother-in-law Morrill. They lived on First Street in Reno. On 15 October 1902 she married John Smith, a miner from England who was working on the Comstock. They did not have any children. They also lived in Butte, Montana, along with Annie's older brother Frank and her older sister Ella. Annie trained and worked as a practical nurse after moving back to Reno.
Hattie Lenore Hurd (born 11 February 1873 Mahanoy, Pennsylvania--died 4 October 1953 Oakland, California). Hattie was born in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virginia City with her parents. She was 3 years old when her father died in the Ophir Mine. She graduated from the Fourth Ward School in the 1889-90 school year.
Hattie Lenore Hurd Graduate of Fourth Ward School 1890 shared by Mimi Swaney on Ancestry.com
Hattie married Avery Powers on 22 December, 1897 in Virginia City. He was born in Canada, and was living with his family in Virginia City as early as 1880. His step father, Robert Meacham, ran a lumber business on the Comstock for many years. Both of their girls, Ina and Alta, were born in Virginia City. Ina graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1913, taught at Southside School in Reno, and then became a teacher of handicapped children in Pasadena, California. Alta never married and was living with her mother and two Aunts Annie and Edith in 1940 at 120 Stevenson Street in Reno. She worked as a bookkeeper at an insurance company. Hattie and Avery divorced before 1922, and Hattie also worked as a bookkeeper. She passed away in 1953 in Oakland where Alta was living at the time.
And that leaves one more Hurd daughter, Edith Francis Hurd. I will leave her story for another post. One thread that moves between all the Hurd girls was that of education. Education was an important part of all their lives, and was at the same time woven into the history of Nevada. Which in turn became a part of my history.
It gives me a unique sense of my place right here in northern Nevada.
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