Santa Cruz County Biographies

GEORGE W. HURSH

Submitted by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
"The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."
 
        Diversity is an order of things as common in human character as it is in 
the lower conditions or the physical surroundings with which we come in daily 
contact. There are bright and stupid people, people who are sad and merry, 
philanthropic and misanthropic, forgiving and revengeful, affectionate and 
hating, mirthful and morose, cautious and reckless, imaginative and practical, 
and so on through the different qualities which constitute the sum of human 
character. And while one generally finds that for which he seeks, there is so 
much of the darker side of human nature manifest that a character conspicuous 
for warmth of affection, sincerity of friendship, vividness of imagination, and 
brightness of intellect, with that elasticity of spirits which enables one to 
rise above the vexatious trials and troubles of earth, naturally attracts the 
attention of those who are looking for something higher and better than mere 
sordid gratification or temporal gain.
        I know that my friend Hursh will modestly disclaim the virtues which, 
from the above, might be inferentially attributed to him; hence I will not 
provoke his modesty by directly saying that he is the possessor of these 
desirable attributes. It will suffice that he has suggested this line of 
thought.
        In November, 1889, he underwent the painful operation of the amputation 
of his right leg above the knee. This ordeal was the result of necrosis of the 
bone, resulting from an injury caused by falling from a rail fence when a boy.  
This affliction, which would have made many men morose and misanthropic, has not 
robbed his nature of a single ray of sunshine. A character and a philosophy 
which can look with complacency upon such a misfortune, command my admiration. 
To the thoughtful mind this conveys an important and valuable lesson, that 
happiness consists not in externals.  It was during the period immediately 
preceding and following his misfortune that he learned the truth and force of 
the quotation which introduces this sketch.  
        He was born near Forte Wayne, Indiana, February 10, 1853. He is the son 
of a farmer, and attended the district school in his early days, completing his 
education at Fort Wayne College, in 1872.  He taught school and took a post 
graduate course, intending to enter Ann Arbor, but later changed his plans, 
expecting to go to Dartmouth; but a trip to California with an old friend and 
school chum, W. H. Housh, upset all previous plans.
        Arriving at Sacramento June 10, 1875, as he had been engaged in teaching 
ever since he was sixteen years old, excepting when he was at school, he 
enrolled himself among the teachers of California.  He and his friend both 
passed the teachers' examination in September, receiving first-grade State 
certificates, the only ones issued at that examination. He taught a year in 
Sacramento County and then came to Watsonville, where he engaged in teaching for 
twelve years, or until 1888. He was once principal of the Watsonville schools 
for three years, and for five years a member of the County Board of Education. 
He then went into the stationery business, at Ed. Martin's old stand, on Main 
Street, but disposed of that in June, 1891, and temporarily accepted a position 
as principal of the Corralitos schools.
        Mr. Hursh contemplates devoting the remainder of his life to fruit 
culture, a subject which he discusses with enthusiasm. Ever since his boyhood 
days upon his father's farm he has longed for the conditions which surround the 
life of a farmer or horticulturist and the possibilities of fruit raising in 
California, and particularly in Pajaro Valley, have been and are such as to 
recommend themselves to any man seeking permanent investment, and the very 
largest returns upon the capital in use. Mr. Hursh has not failed to perceive 
this, and the sale of his store in June was the first step toward the 
consummation of an event for which he had devoutly wished. He has purchased a 
farm of three hundred and seventy-six acres five miles northwest of Watsonville, 
and during the coming year will convert as much of it as is practicable into an 
apple orchard.
 
HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.-  E. S. Harrison, 
Pacific Press Publ. Co., San Francisco, 1891