John Hurley Dead

He Served in the Civil War and Was Twice Wounded in Battle

John Henry Hurley, a veteran of the civil war, died at Freehold on Saturday, September 14th, after years of suffering from wounds received in battle. His body was bent and drawn from pain and suffering and for years he had been unable to do any work except odd jobs about town that did not require much physical exertion.

Mr. Hurley was 63 years old. He was the son of the late Lewis Hurley and was born near Freehold. When a young man he learned the carpenter trade with his father. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted in company A of the 14th New Jersey volunteers. He participated in a number of severe engagements, among them being those of Monocacy, Cold Harbor and the Wilderness. At the battle of Moncacy he was shot through the body, the ball entering his abdomen and lodging in the back. After being wounded he crawled away in the woods to avoid falling in the hands of the Confederates. For three days he lay alone in the open air. He bound up his wounds at a brook. A Southern woman, whose husband was a Northern sympathizer, at length found him and she and her husband took him in, extracted the bullet from his back and nursed him back to health. At the battle of Cold Harbor he was again shot, this time in the leg, and he had a tedious recovery in the hospital. During the war he also suffered a severe attack of fever. The wound through his body troubled him up to the time of his death.

Mr. Hurley married Margaret E. Raynor of Southampton, New York. The greater part of his married life was spent at Freehold. For nine years he farmed a soldier's claim in Dakota, but he returned to Freehold eighteen years ago. A month ago he moved to Asbury Park, but at the time of his death he was visiting at Freehold, where he had gone to attend the reunion of his regiment. A wife and five daughters survive him. The daughters are Mrs. Lewis J. Warner and Mrs. Benjamin E. Warner of Good Ground, Long Island; Mrs. Frank W. Cottrell of Freehold, and Misses Mary and Sarah Hurley, who live at home.

Source: Red Bank Register, Wednesday, Sep 25, 1901

Some additional excellent resources for your research are:

• New Jersey Census, 1772-1890 - Ancestry.com

• Calendar of New Jersey Wills, 1670-1760 - Ancestry.com

• Interment.net - NJ ~ New Jersey Cemetery Transcriptions on the net.

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