San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 499
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 2/16/2010
CHARLES E. HURD
A typical California pioneer, representative of all the best qualities and elements of those sturdy settlers is Charles E. Hurd. The veterans of the old vanguard who made settlement in the state fifty years ago are few and constantly decreasing in number, and the deeds done in those days of activity certainly deserve chronicling before the actors themselves pass from the stage of life. Of the eighty years of his life, Mr. Hurd has spent the last fifty-eight in San Joaquin County, so that none have a more intimate acquaintance with the development and upbuilding of this portion of the state. He was born at Conway, N.H., on February 7, 1843, a son of Oliver S. and Sarah Ann (Linsertt) Hurd. The father was a building contractor and there were five children in the family; Emma, Charles E., Elwell, William and Ann Sarah. The father lived to be over seventy years old, but the mother passed away when Charles E. was a lad of seven. After his mother's death he was sent to Brownfield, Maine, where he was reared in various homes and attended the district school in the winter and during the summer months worked for his living. From the age of ten until he was sixteen he lived with D.M. Bean and worked in his store when not in school and from sixteen to the age of twenty-one he was a clerk in Mr. Bean's store, with the exception of nine months that he served in the Civil War in the 23rd Maine Volunteer Infantry.
On February 26, 1864, he came to California and settled near Stockton where he worked for five years on a dairy owned by J.E. Moore, three miles out from Stockton and during that time was able to accumulate sufficient means to go into the dairy business for himself and for twenty-one years, he was so engaged, selling his products in Stockton. Some twenty years ago, Mr. Hurd purchased his present ranch of ten acres on Harney Lane about two and a half miles southeast of Lodi, the ranch being devoted to the growing of grapes, fruit and alfalfa. He has also done considerable well boring throughout San Joaquin County.
The marriage of Mr. Hurd occured at Stockton on February 1, 1870, and united him with Miss Emma C. Kerr, a native of Miami, Ohio, a daughter of Dr. William R. and Francis (Brown) Kerr. Dr. Kerr came to California by the southern route and arrived in San Diego in 1849 and in the spring of 1850 came to San Francisco and the next year to Stockton. At the Gila River, Dr. Kerr was obliged to dispose of most of his baggage as the train was in danger of being hopelessly mired in the river. Mrs. Hurd was an infant in arms when her parents crossed the plains in 1849 and her father was a practicing physician and had one of the finest drug stores in Stockton. Mrs. Hurd was educated in the Eldorado district school in Stockton and later the Normal school and became a teacher in Merced County. Her father owned a ranch on Cherokee Lane and the family resided on it for forty years. Dr. Kerr and Dr. Kelsey, George and William West helped in the organization of the Republican party in San Joaquin County, not an easy task in those days, as the county was mostly Democratic. Dr. Kerr passed away at the age of forty-eight, but his wife lived to be ninety-four years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Hurd are the parents of eight children: Francis E., now Mrs. Manning of Oakland; Lila M., Clarence W., and Charles; Ethel, now Mrs. Comfort of Stockton and she has one son, Hosmer; Lester resides at Westley; Nellie married H.W. Bessac and they have three children, Marian, Arthur and Francis; Alga is the wife of Dr. A. Carlton Smith of the Oakland Emergency Hospital and they have one daughter, Alga Margaret. Mr. Hurd joining the Masons on February 26, 1864, entering Mt. Moriah Lodge at Brownfield, Maine, and he has been a member ever since; at the age of seventy this lodge presented him with a life diploma and membership. Politically Mr. Hurd is a Republican and the family are members of the Methodist Church.
History of
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
With A
Biographical Review
of
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
George H. Tinkham
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1923
San Joaquin County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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