John
Hurst was born in 1735 in Orange
county
VA. In 1759,
Hurst married Nancy Nunn
and had 9 children from this union.
In
1781,
Hurst joined the
Virginia militia and was stationed
at
Fort
Pitt.
During
the Revolutionary war,
Fort
Pitt served as
the Western district Headquarters for the Continental army. Troops
and supplies were gathered at
Fort
Pitt for the
defense of the new Nation’s frontier.
Fort
Pitt was the
supply depot for all western forts located near the forks of The
Ohio River and the Alleghenies.
In 1774,
Fort
Pitt sent men to
participate in the battle of
Point Pleasant, the first battle of
the Revolutionary war. The battle of Point Pleasant was part of Lord
Dunmore’s war which started near
Yellow Creek
Pennsylvania when
family members of Chief Logan were massacred by local settlers. This
started Indian wars all along the
Ohio River.
Virginia militiamen stationed at
Fort
Pit would soon meet up with
Chief Cornstalk of the
Shawnee at the battle of Point
Pleasant in
West Virginia and
defeat him. The Treaty of Charlotte ended Dunmore’s war causing the
Shawnee to give up territory south of the Ohio which eventually led
to the formation of the state of Kentucky.
During
the years of 1778-1782,
Virginia militiamen would attack
Indian settlements in
Pennsylvania at the Indian towns of
Conewego, and the Sewickley, and along the
Sandusky
River in
Ohio.
Hurst would participate in the
expeditions to the
Sandusky
River in 1781.
There they attacked the
Shawnee villages burning
them to the ground. For this action the
Shawnee attacked and burned the town
of
Hannistown
Pennsylvania in 1782.
Hannistown is a famous town in
Pennsylvania because it is where
the Hannistown Resolutions,
Pennsylvania’s first Declaration of
Independence was signed and ratified on May 16, 1775, almost a year
and two months before the Declaration of Independence was signed in
Philadelphia.
After
the war in 1782,
Hurst would move to
Russell
County
Va. In 1789,
Nancy his first wife would die. Later that year
Hurst would marry
Elizabeth Breedwell. From this
Union he would have 8 children.
This made a total of 17 children
Hurst would have between
the two marriages. In 1803,
Hurst would move to Elk’s bend
located on the
Powell
River in
Claiborne
County. By
1810, his sons Thomas and Elijah moved to
Claiborne
County to be
near their father in order to care for him. In 1817, at the age of
83, a tree fell on
Hurst killing him.
Hurst was buried in the
Elk Bend cemetery close by. Today
Hurst has thousands of Descendents
living in the Claiborne
county
TN region and the
Bell
County
KY region.