Burton David Hurd

 Hurd, Burton D.                                                     Dec 18, 1868     Nov 03, 1936

Location:                              28^o44.500 N             096^o10.203 W
 

 Burton D. Hurd Local Dam Promoter, Dies

Deceased Was Important Developer of Several So. Coast Cities

          Burton David Hurd, third son of David Elisha and Anna Delight Faye Hurd was born on the family homestead in Hamilton County , Iowa , Dec. 18, 1868 and died Nov. 3, 1936 at his home in Collegeport , Texas , aged 67 years, 10 months and 16 days. Mr. Hurd was baptized into the membership of the Baptist denomination at an early age and was the founder of the First Federated Church of Collegeport, a fellowship of 14 denominations, which church is still the only house of worship in that community. When Dr. William States Jacobs, of Houston, organized the Independent Church , Mr. Hurd became one of his first members.

He was a well known promoter and developer, and was largely interested in the development of Port Arthur , and the early developing of Collegeport and other coast sections. His last work was promoting the building of a dam across the Tres Palacios bay between Collegeport and Palacios which was just recently passed on favorably by the War Department at Washington, D. C.

Besides the widow he is survived by one son, Vernon King Hurd, one grandson, Vernon Hurd II, two brothers, Elgin C. Hurd of Hurdsfield , North Dakota , and Faye Hurd, Galveston , Texas . Two sisters, Mrs. George Boody, St. Paul, Minn., Mrs. Norabel Culp, Minneapolis, Minn.

Funeral services were held in Collegeport Wednesday afternoon, conducted by Rev. G. F. Gillespie and interment made in the Collegeport Cemetery under the direction of the Brandon-Duffy Funeral Home.

The Palacios Beacon, November 5, 1936

 

                             BURTON D. HURD, PROMOTER, DIES

                                     DECEASED WAS IMPORTANT DEVELOPER

                                                OF SEVERAL SO. TEXAS CITIES

Palacios Beacon

Burton David Hurd, third son of David Elisha and Anna Delight Faye Hurd was born on the family homestead in Hamilton County , Iowa , December 19, 1868 and died November 3, 1936 at his home in Collegeport , Texas aged 6[sic] years, 10 months and 16 days. Mr. Hurd was baptized into the membership of the Baptist denomination at an early age and was the founder of the First Federated Church of Collegeport, a fellowship of 14 denominations, which church is still the only house of worship in that community. When Dr. William States Jacobs, of Houston , organized the Independent Church , Mr. Hurd became one of his first members.

He was a well known promoter and developer, and was largely interested in the development of Port Arthur , and the early developing of Collegeport and other coast sections. His last work was promoting the building of a dam across the Tres Palacios Bay between Collegeport and Palacios which was just recently passed on favorably by the War Department in Washington , D.C.

Besides the widow he is survived by one son, Vernon King Hurd, one grandson, Vernon Hurd II, two brothers, Elgin C. Hurd, of Hurdsfield , North Dakota , and Faye Hurd, Galveston , Texas . Two sisters, Mrs. George Boody, St. Paul, Minnesota, Mrs. Norabel Culp, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Funeral services were held in Collegeport Wednesday afternoon conducted by Rev. G. F. Gillespie and interment made in the Collegeport cemetery under the direction of the Brandon-Duffy Funeral Home.

 

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PASSING OF THE LION

By Harry Austin Clapp
 

 The passing of the lion? Aye, the passing of the lion. When Burton D. Hurd passed from the stage of his earthly works, into the great and wonderful over there, it was the passing of a man with the heart and courage of a lion. The works of this remarkable character, from the Sabine to the Rio Grande , will be visible and remembered by generations. Great monuments to his wonderful vision and his ability to execute. Burton D. Hurd needs no monument of stone. His monument will be in the works accomplished, standing so long as there is a Texas coast. Wherever one may wander along this vast coast there one will cross his trail.

I write this copy with sorrow. I am unable to understand why this valuable man should be taken and I should be spared. Burton mixed his paint with sunshine and where he journeyed he traveled with a smile. Many men discussed and analyzed Burton 's plans, visions, ideas. Some were severe in criticism, but none questioned his morals. Burton was "clean as a hound's tooth." Years ago he acquired a conception of what Christianity meant to man's life and he practiced it. According to the light he received from his God he practiced charity, tenderness, good-will and benevolence in contact with his fellows. I never knew a man so eager and willing to overlook and forgive bitter words uttered by men, who no knowing him, did not feel friendly. Many times he told me, that life was entirely too short to spend any time worrying about what might be said of him. As a neighbor he was kind, generous, helpful, willing to aid in any and every way. No better neighbor lived elsewhere. As a citizen he was interested in all civic projects and some of the things we now enjoy results from his unknown and unheralded interest. I have been an intimate and personal friend of this man, for twenty-seven years and what I have written is the result of my own observations. His passing is a great loss to Collegeport, to Matagorda County and to the entire coast country. No man is left to take his place. His smile and his charming personality and his belief in the goodness of his fellow men will be with us so long as memory remains. If Burton had been conscious the last few hours, this is the prayer he might have uttered:

"I rest. My journey done,

I face the West again.

And see the gold of the setting sun,

No longer fell[sic] the pain.

The lights are slowly growing dim--

My ship is going out to sea,

I am slowly slipping o'er the rim,

Into eternity.

But one last prayer, O God,

Thou who knowest best,

Before I am beneath the sod,

Before I am at rest.

Let me have Light

To guide my way

On through the night

Across the bay."

--Bickerton.

 I pray my God to hold him in His comforting arms and give his soul peace, contentment and well-earned rest. I love this man and he loved me. I enjoyed his respect, confidence and friendship.

Good bye Burton ! I'll be with you soon, so please linger along the shore. The personal history of this man is full of romance. A builder of railways, vast canal and irrigation systems, rice mills and warehouses, settlement of thousands of splendid farm folk on fertile lands, erecting school houses for the education of the children, organizing churches, all that people might have opportunity for finer lives. Burton had little respect for money, except what might be accomplished with it. Born on a farm in Hamilton County , Iowa , his entire life has been closely identified with some phase of agriculture. He seldom was interested in other developments. His last, and the culmination of years of dreaming, planning, studying was the project of building a dam across Matagorda Bay for the purpose of impounding water for the irrigation of many hundreds of acres and the development of an immense truck industry. Plans for this have all been approved and the burden which is not a light one, now rests on the shoulders of his son Vernon King Hurd.

Burton David Hurd was born December 19, 1868 and died November 3rd, in his home in Collegeport. He was the third son of David Elisha and Anna Delight Faye Hurd. I knew his parents well, for they used to live here. They were rugged, splendid folk, the kind that has made America . They helped make Iowa and their progeny is now keeping Iowa . It was said that when Garibaldi, the great Italian liberator died, his heart was embalmed and placed in a casket on which was inscribed "Open this casket and there you will find graven on my heart ' Italy "." If one could see the heart of Burton , one would find graven there Collegeport, and so it is fitting that his resting place should be in local soil, on the west side of the cemetery in sight of the sparkling waters of the bay. The funeral services were held at the bayshore home, with Reverend George Gillespie reading the service. Evidence of the respect and regard the citizens had for this man, was shown by the fact that every home for miles around was represented in whole or in part, except those who were detained by illness, and the faculty attended in a body. Many who were unable to be present sent flowers. The floral offerings were gorgeous and seldom has such profusion of bloom been seen. Hundreds of roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, sprays, wreaths and set pieces, one spray being so large that it actually embraced and covered the casket. Relatives who were present, consisted of Fay Hurd youngest brother, his wife and son, Herbert Hurd, from Galveston, Mrs. Flora Morris and Mrs. Anett O'Leary, sisters of Mrs. Hurd, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Morris, Mrs. Austin Oberwetter, Mrs. John Logan, Mrs. Luke Hawks, Mrs. Merle Groves, Frank Groves and Mr. E. L. Morris, nieces and nephews, all of Houston; Mrs. Abel Pierce, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Della Braden and W. P. Braden of Blessing; Mr. and Mrs. John Cherry, former superintendent of the local school, and Arthur Liggett, of Bay City; Mrs. and Mrs. B. W. Trull, and Mr. George Harrison, of Palacios; Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Smith, of Gulf; Mrs. Morgan Smith and Mrs. Velma S. Rogers, of Matagorda. Pallbearers were old friends, Messrs. Gustave Franzen, G. W. Corporon, L. E. Liggett, W. V. Batchelder, Eliot Curtis and M. S. Holsworth. Old time friends asked the privilege of preparing the last resting place. In the wet and bitter cold, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Nelson gathered a group who cleared away the wet grass and erected a shelter. All day they labored in the cold storm and when the time grew short more help was sought and more wiling hands asked a part in the arduous task then were needed to work in relays. This noble couple carried out to the workers hot coffee and sandwiches that nothing be left undone to make for their beloved friend a bower of beauty in which to rest. These friends assisted Mr. and Mrs. Roy Nelson, Stanley Wright, Dick and Gaines Corporon, Carl Ackerman, Henry Guyer, Tommy Oliver, Frank Mischa, Orley Brown, James Murry, Clifford Ash, Amos Johnson and Mr. Baggett. As many as thirty-five cars accompanied the remains to the cemetery where the commitment was given by Reverend Geo. Gillespie. Arrangement were in charge of the Brandon-Duffy Funeral Home of Palacios and Matagorda. Many of the facts given were supplied by Mrs. Dena Hurd and I have used them freely. As I have mentioned before, I write this with a heart bowed in sorrow. I feel that I have suffered a great personal loss. I shall miss the almost daily calls of Burton and his always words of good cheer. God rest his soul.

"That's good, read on, "Earth's light was growing dim.

But he--he knew time endeth not for him;

He viewed eternity in wonderment.

Then quietly abided there--content.

He who taught bigness took no narrow room;

He who loved mankind saw no shade of gloom.

"Read on and on" this page is not the last,

Nor is the glory of his years forecast.

The footprints he has made are not effaced,

While time shall last they cannot be erased.

How pitifully weak the small the soul

Compared to him who fought and won his goal!

Prophetic words, "Read on and on and on"

Stronger in Death than Life, He is not gone."--Anon.
 

BURTON DAVID HURD

In the death of Burton David Hurd, who departed this life at his home in Collegeport, Texas, a town of his own founding, last Tuesday, the state, the county and this section have been deprived of one of its most prominent citizens, real estate operator and pioneer of land and settlement promotions, and a man of keen judgment of values, a perception of development and a dreamer of agricultural enterprises, peopled with happy, prosperous and contented people.

It has been said of this fine neighbor, friend and home builder that he never cared a cent for any dollar that could not be used for the betterment of the human family and, yet, in his various promotions throughout the country he spent thousands of them. His aim was always to the highest and his fertile mind constantly active in the behalf of the development of his country.

Burton David Hurd, the third son of David E. and Anna Delight Faye Hurd, was born on the family homestead at William, Hamilton County , Iowa , December 18, 1868 and passed away November 3, 1936 at 1 p.m. after an illness of three months, battling the return of a trouble sustained in an automobile accident several years ago.

At his home in Collegeport, and present at the final summons, were his bereaved wife and son, Vernon King Hurd, Mrs. Vernon King Hurd, Mrs. Annette O'Leary, of Houston, sister of Mr. Hurd. Surviving are, besides his widow, one son, Vernon King Hurd, one grandson, Vernon King Hurd, II, two brothers, Elgin H. Hurd, of Hurdsville, North Dakota, and Fay M. Hurd, of Galveston; two sisters, Mrs. George Boody, Sr., and Mrs. Norabel Culk, of St. Paul, Minnesota, besides several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Hurd, on June 15, 1891, was wedded to Miss Dena D. Soekland, daughter of one of the old families of Stuttgart, Arkansas, to which union was born a daughter, Florence Vera, deceased, and Vernon K., the latter now residing in Collegeport.

The funeral rites were conducted from the home by the Rev. Gillespie, of Palacios, assisted by a group of women with whom Mrs. Hurd had worked in the county for years.

The Collegeport school and business houses were closed, while tributes of love and esteem were evidenced by the bestowal of many wreaths and set pieces of beautiful flowers. Many relatives and friends from Houston , Galveston , Blessing and Palacios attended.

Mr. Hurd worked on his father's farm until he was 16 years of age at which time he gained his parents' consent reluctantly, to sacrifice his Father's gift to his boys of a farm equipped and stocked and go for himself. He worked nights and attended Spaulding Business College in Kansas City , Missouri , and completed the study of law after his marriage.

He came to Bay City before the railroads--driving from Wharton or Eagle Lake . When the railroad entered Bay City he operated his own private car, increasing that to several cars and often a whole special train, bringing 100 people per month for several years; in al more than 25,000, eighty percent of whom purchased land or entered business in the Texas Gulf Coast country.

A more intimate picture of the activities of the man may be gained in perusal of the following from one of Mr. Hurd's briefs of "Land and Agriculture Development," which follows:

Commencing in 1893, drainage districts were organized and developed in some twenty central and northwestern counties of Iowa . Reclaiming an aggregate of 150,000 acres, sold to settlers, brought from older eastern states through an immigration organization built up for the purpose.

This development and immigration attracted the attention of Arthur E. Stillwell and a deal was made with him and the Kansas City Southern Railroad in 1897 to develop and colonize a 42,000 acre tract of land between Beaumont and Port Arthur , Texas . Also to assist in the development of Port Arthur and the sale of town lots to finance the building of the ship channel from Sabine Pass. The first canal for growing rice in Texas , was built in connection with this project.

Following the Port Arthur development, large tracts of land were purchased from ranchmen, developed by the construction of canals for growing rice and sold to

settlers brought from the North, as follow: 8,000 acres at Iowa, La., 10,000 acres at Vinton, La., 8,000 acres at Cow Bayou, 7 miles west of Port Arthur, 5,000 acres of Hildebrands Bayou south west from Beaumont, both in Jefferson County, Texas, 16,000 acres 20 miles west of Houston between the Brazos River and Buffalo Bayou, 15,000 acres east of Eagle Lake, two canals developing 25,000 acres on the east side of the Colorado River in Matagorda County, Texas 56,000 acres on the west side of the Colorado River in the same county, covering the Collegeport district, 16,000 acres west of the Tres Palacios River south from the M.P.R.R. to the head of the bay in Matagorda County, 42,000 acres near Kingsville, Texas owned jointly by the King Estate and the railroad and 20,000 acres for the Texas Land and Cattle Company, north from Midfield in Matagorda and Wharton Counties, Texas.

The development work for the sale of these lands included the construction and operation of ten canal systems for growing rice, road building, drainage, community development, railroad construction and the building of rice mills and warehouses.

 The Matagorda County Tribune, Thursday, November 12, 1936
 

 NOTES:

1910 Matagorda County Census

Precinct 8                               Enumeration District 147                    Sheet 3B

Household 49/50

Hurd, Burton D., 40, b Iowa , married 18 years

Hurd, Dena D., 37, b Indiana , 2 children born, 1 living

Hurd, Vernon , 14, b Iowa

Dena D. Soekland Hurd

 Hurd, Dena D.                                                        May 07, 1871     May 02, 1939

Location:                              28^o44.499 N             096^o10.202 W
 

 Mrs. Dena Hurd Dies Suddenly At Her Home In Collegeport