Martha
Elsie
(Pring) Hursh
(1860-1946)
Martha Elsie (Pring) Hursh was born in 1860 in Cedar
Creek Twp., Allen County, IN, the daughter of John
and Caroline (Minerd) Pring. At her death, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
called her "the last surviving member of the pioneer John Pring family,
which settled in Cedar Creek Township..."
Martha married William Allen Hursh (1880- ? ), an Indiana native.
They had nine children -- Jennie Bright, Walter Chase Hursh, Marie E. Kent, Mabel Moudy, Dora Hursh, Hattie Hursh and Lela "Pat" Dunten. Sadly, their first children were twins who died in childbirth on Aug. 27, 1881.
The Hurshes resided in Huntertown, near Fort Wayne.
Said the News-Sentinel, Martha "was a member of the Huntertown Methodist Church and of the Huntertown Chapter No. 388, Order of the Eastern Star."
In the early 1930s, Martha's widowed brother James
went to live with her. In the photo seen here are, left to right: Martha
(far left) with sisters Nettie (center) and Margaret
Cornell, and brothers Eldridge and
James.
Brother James died at her home at age 80 on March 12, 1934. He was buried in the Leo Cemetery.
Martha passed away at age 86 on Nov. 22, 1946. She was buried at Huntertown Cemetery. The News-Sentinel carried a prominent obituary, and said that she had "11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren."
William's
fate is unknown.
Son Walter married Luella Hand, a teacher in the Eel River Township Schools in Allen County.
For information contact Sandra Ammerman-Paser.
Donald L. Kear, a distant nephew of John Pring's, has an extensive collection of information on this family on his "Kear Family Site." He also has published his findings in The John Cears Kear Family (1984).
Copyright © 2002, 2004, 2007 Mark A. Miner