Biography submitted to the Ohio Biographies project.

Submitted by: Tina Hursh

Email: frog158@juno.com

Date Submitted: January 27, 2000

Elmer A. Hursh

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Source: Biography-Memoirs of Men and Women of Stark County. Compiled by JOHN DANNER. B.F. Bowen, Publisher 1904.

ELMER A HURSH, was born on the parental homestead farm in Paris
township, on the 6th of December,1872, being a son of John and Catherine
(Riegel) Hursh, of whose eleven children the following named eight are still
living: Mary, who is the wife of Thomas Watson, of Carroll county, this
state; Milton, who is a resident of Butler county, Kansas; John I., who is
engaged in the coal business in the city of Canton; Francis, who maintains his
home in Canton, being a traveling salesman for the Ohio Oil & Grease Company,
of Cleveland; Alice, who remains at the old home; Curtis G., who is likewise
engaged in farming in Paris township; Elmer A., who is the direct subject of
this resume; and Martha J., who is the wife of Jacob Potoff, of Carroll
county.

John Hursh, the father of the subject, was born in the old Keystone state
of Pennsylvania, on the 7th of January, 1826, being a son of Jacob and Mary A.
(Harsh) Hursh, and he was but two years of age at the time when his
parents removed to Carroll county, Ohio, locating on a pioneer farm, and there
his father died shortly afterward. John was then placed in the home of an uncle,
Philip Harsh, while his mother passed her time in the homes of her brothers,
Leonard, Philip, Lewis and William Harsh, all of whom came to Carroll county in
an early day. The father of the subject was reared on the farm of his uncle
and received most kindly treatment, while he secured such educational privileges
as were to be had in the pioneer schools of the locality. As a young man he
served an apprenticeship at the trade of cabinetmaking, but devoted his
attention to the same for a comparatively brief interval, preferring to engage
in agricultural pursuits. He accordingly settled on a farm in Carroll county,
the property having been an inheritance of his young wife, whom he had married
a short time previously. In 1863 they disposed of this farm and came to Stark
county, where they effected the purchase of the present Hursh homestead, which
comprises two hundred and five acres, and here Mr. Hursh continued to reside
until his death, which occurred on the 13th of April, 1889. In politics he
gave his allegiance to the Republican party, while his religious faith was that
of the Methodist Episcopal church. His venerable widow survived him and lived
on the old homestead, endeared to her by the memories and associations of the
past, and cheered and solaced by the love of her children and the affection of
a wide circle of appreciative friends until her death, April 1, 1903. She was
born in Carroll county, Ohio, on the 11th of February, 1825, being a daughter
of George and Catherine (Stinger) Riegel. Her father was born in the city of
Baltimore, Maryland, on the 19th of October, 1774, and he came to Carroll
county in the early epoch of its history, becoming one of its honored and
influential pioneers. He was twice married, and of his first union were born
six sons, while his second wife, mother of Mrs. Hursh, bore him thirteen
children, of whom only three are living at the present time. His second wife
brought him a handsome dowry and he became a wealthy man, his landed estate at
the time of his death comprising about seven hundred and sixty acres. Mrs.
Catherine (Riegel) Hursh is likewise a devoted member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, while in her home community she is revered as one of the
noble pioneer women of the locality.

Elmer A. Hursh was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm and the
public schools of his native township afforded him his early educational
discipline. One year after his father's death, at which time he was eighteen
years of age, he became associated with his brother Curtis in the operation of
the home farm on shares, and this partnership thus continued for a period of
four years, at the expiration of which the subject assumed the entire charge of
the farm, which he conducted successfully for the ensuing three years. In the
spring of 1898 he rented his present farm and forthwith took up his residence
on the same, where he remained until the following October, when he removed to
the village of Paris and there established himself in the general merchandise
business, in which he was associated with Allen O. Zininger, under the firm
name of Zininger & Hursh. The enterprise did not prove as successful as Mr.
Hursh had anticipated and at the expiration of one year he disposed of his
interests in the same, and in May, 1899, he purchased his present farm, upon
which he had previously resided, the same comprising eighty acres of
exceptionally fertile land. In politics he accords a stanch support tot he
Republican party, and both he and his wife are valued and consistent members of
the Reformed church. Fraternally he is identified with the Junior Order of
United American Mechanics, being affiliated with Ethan Allen Council No. 171,
in the village of Paris.

On the 21st of March, 1894, Mr. Hursh was united in marriage to Miss Grace
Sponseller, who was born in Paris township, being a daughter of Frederick
Sponseller, a prominent and influential stock buyer and a representative of one
of the old and honored pioneer families of Stark county. Mr. and Mrs. Hursh
have two children, namely: Vera M., who was born on the 14th of May, 1895, and
Carl H., who was born on the 6th of February, 1897.