Richard Charles Hurst

There are plenty of stories of successful business owners buried here, but what’s most notable about this man’s story is his domestic life.  He may be the only one in this cemetery who has been widowed five times and married for six. And it’s important to note that he did nothing sinister or villainous to cause their deaths.

Although given the name Richard Charles Hurst at birth, he never used his first name, even on legal documents. With his five siblings, the Hurst family left England around 1862, stopping first in Canada for two years while the U.S. was at war with itself. The desire was to find good soil for farming in a warmer climate, which led them to western Iowa. 

Charles and Thomas, who was two years older, quickly made plans to leave the farm for the bright lights of New York City. They were together in Brooklyn when this photo was made sometime in the 1860s (Charles would logically be on the right). They may have sent it home to show their family they were thriving, working together as they established their careers in the printing and publishing business. 

Thomas married first, in 1865, keeping his vow until at “death they did part” 59 years later. Charles married in 1867, keeping his vow in the same manner but six times with six different women.

Number 1

His first wife’s name was Catherine and their first child was nicknamed Kate, which happened to be the name of Thomas’ wife. The 1870 census shows Charles had moved to Philadelphia while Thomas remained in Brooklyn. Both men listed their occupation as a “stereotyper,” one who made metal plates in order to print books, instead of printing directly from the type. That way the plates could be stored and easily reused for additional print runs, rather than having to set the type all over again. 

Thomas founded Hurst & Company in 1871, a publisher of popular works which, by the end of the century, included the mysteries of Arthur Conan Doyle. Exactly what kind of business relationship the brothers had over the years is not clear. Most likely they were partners, and they both became wealthy. Charles may have also operated a business making plates for other printers or publishers of newspapers and magazines.

The older brother’s domestic life, by all appearances, was a straight line compared to the ups and down encountered by Charles. After he and Catherine had a second daughter in 1870, there was a son born in 1872 who died of cholera in 1873. Four months after that, Catherine died of tuberculosis. Those were the first two to occupy the Hurst vault at Mount Moriah.

Number 2

He promptly moved with his two girls back to New York. There he met and married Mary Eliza Walker in August of 1874. They all moved to St. Louis (reason unknown) where she gave birth to twins in 1876. Records show the infants both died of cholera, and in September, Mary died of cerebral softening (encephalomalacia). It was his shortest marriage, at just 25 months.

Charles brought them all back to New York where her family was from, and his wife and twins were buried in Queens. He was listed in an 1878 New York city directory with the same address as Hurst & Company, occupation: “books.” A dozen years later, Charles moved the remains of Mary and the twins to Mount Moriah.

Number 3

He soon found the next Mrs. Hurst, and there is a clue that explains how he did it. The father of the future bride was James Robb, who was a “type pounder” or typesetter in the printing business in Philadelphia. Charles apparently knew him from having worked there previously. His daughter, Susan Robb Walters lost her spouse in 1873, the same year Charles lost his, and she had a son, Harry, who was the same age as Kate. 

Since Philadelphia is only a train ride away from Brooklyn, Charles apparently rekindled the acquaintance, arranged to visit, and wooed the young widow. There could have been several day trips or weekend visits. Perhaps he arranged to have some business dealings there. Soon there was a wedding ceremony. Exactly where and when is unknown, but it was before 1880. 

At the time of that year’s census they were all living in Brooklyn and Charles owned an “electrotyping” business.  It was a new-and-improved, chemical-based process for making printing plates. They sat for portraits, his, shown above, hers at left, and the three pre-teenagers at right.

The blended family found prosperity in the city until Susan’s health became a concern. In 1884 Charles suggested life in the country might help, so he took his four life-long urban dwellers and moved to his parents’ farm in Monona County, Iowa. Apparently the children were receptive to this adventure, as was Susan at first. The end of her story came a year later, as told by this newspaper report.

She was buried a quarter-mile from the farm house beside a corn field. Her son remained in Iowa but Charles and the girls returned once more to Brooklyn. (News stories of her death mentioned that Charles had not only become a landowner in Iowa but a stockholder and board member of the local bank.)

Number 4

Wedding bells rang on September 19, 1888 when Emma Augusta Knapp vowed to be his fourth  wife. A connection for this relationship had also been established in past years; Emma signed her name in the records as a witness to the marriage of Charles and Mary Eliza Walker. She was a spinster at age 46, working her adult life as a Manhattan school teacher and principal. 

In 1892 the youngest daughter from Charles’ first marriage died of tuberculosis and joined the family vault. His mother died later that year as did his father in 1895. Then daughter Kate married a fellow Brooklynite in 1901, so her father and step-mother became empty-nesters, with the exception of their domestic help. 

As an early adopter of technology (and rich enough to afford it), Charles bought a 1903 Winton automobile like the one shown here. Instead of windows, it had side curtains that could be dropped in case of bad weather. He and Emma enjoyed an excursion to New England, then planned a vacation the next summer to see the World’s Fair in St. Louis.

As they drove back through southern Illinois in July of 1904, Emma was in the back seat reading. Charles had the curtains down, so as he crossed a railroad track, he couldn’t see the train that was about to hit them. It threw him out onto the ground, but Emma landed beneath the vehicle and died. Ironically, what she was reading was a letter from her sister, Mary, who had read a news story about cars crossing railroad tracks and sent it along with words of caution about train crossings. In addition, the Wabash Railroad only ran one train per day on that line, so the timing couldn’t have been worse.

His hospital stay was short so he was able to arrive back in Brooklyn in time for the funeral and Emma’s burial in the Knapp family plot. She had always saved much of what she earned and most of her father’s inheritance, leaving a cash estate of $40,000. What Charles didn’t know was she created her will three years earlier, leaving it all to her sister. It surprised Mary as much as it did Charles. 

The newspapers reported that he agreed to the settlement in October, saying that he didn’t want to contest it because he didn’t need the money. The lawyer that drew the will said that’s what Emma said in excluding her husband but she simply forgot to tell him, and the lawyer failed to mention the reason for her decision in writing.

Number 5

Eleven months later there was a new woman in his life. He married Maria Walburga “Clara” Weigand on September 20, 1905 in Delaware. She was 38 and a native Philadelphian. They lived in Brooklyn where she gave birth to Marion Clara Hurst on September 11, 1906. Charles was a father once more at 61 years old.

In 1911 they retired to Pasadena, California, but Clara died suddenly in 1915 after a serious operation. She was cremated and buried in Pasadena, and once again Charles was faced with being a single dad. 

Number 6

Having only been in California a few years, he turned this time to his Iowa roots to find his last love. That woman was Maria Ardella O’Connor Sykes, known simply as Della. Her husband of 39 years, Fred Sykes, had died the same year as Clara. She was 58 and Charles was 73 when they married in 1918, leaving her country life to join him in the sedate suburb northeast of Los Angeles.

The 1920 census lists only Charles and Della, so where was his teenage daughter? Marion was invited to live with her step-sister (who was 38 years older than her), Kate Hurst Nussbaum, her husband, and their daughter who was 16. This is a yearbook photo of Marion from around that time, sporting the latest hair style.

That was also the year women were given the right to vote, so perhaps that’s what inspired Charles to do something he had been putting off. After living 58 years in this country without the right to vote, he applied to become a naturalized citizen in 1922. 

Sad news came in bundles in this decade, as each of the Hurst brothers came to the end of their lives: John in Missouri in 1921, James in Mississippi in 1923, Tom in Brooklyn in 1924, and Charles in California in August of 1929, being placed beside Clara. It was only six months later, in February of 1930, that Della also died. She was buried with her first husband in Iowa.

The next year Kate moved her father and Clara to Mount Moriah, and that’s where she and her husband would later be buried. It’s an underground vault, unmarked except for the surname, Hurst, inscribed on one side. Beneath that slab, three of the six wives are with him, two are in Iowa, and one is in Brooklyn, but all of his six children are here except Marion, who returned to New York and was buried there.