Thomas and Jane Gurley's Headstones

This is Thomas and Jane's headstones. You can find them by going to www.findagrave.com and then searching for them in the Huron County, Ohio cemetery lookup.

Thomas and Jane Gurley's Death Records

 My next step was to find Jane and Thomas Gurley's death records. I first found their obituaries which told me next to nothing! The next thing I requested from Ohio was their official birth certificates. After hoping and crossing my fingers, they finally arrived in the mail. They still didn't tell me much. Ugh! I am posting them for you to see. I love having them and use them as a verification for their death dates, but I was really hoping to find parents names or Jane's maiden name.

 This is a transcription of the 1880 Census for the Hurlbut Family in Norwalk, Huron, Ohio. Note that Marie was only listed as 'M'. M. Jane Hurlbut was Margaret Jane Hurlbut. L.M. Hurlbut is actually Vera Matilda Hurlbut. There is also a Frank Hurlbut listed as a son, an Almila Lewis and a Margaret Gurley. Frank is James' son from his first marriage. He is often mentioned in the family stories as their half-brother. Almila Lewis is actually Almira. She is James' mother! Margaret Gurley is Marie's older sister! So fun!

James Hurlbut's family

I have been trying to save a 1880 census that shows the family of James and Marie Hurlbut. I find it, but when I click on it it is the wrong picture! Crazy!!! Anyway, I wanted to share with everyone what I found about James Hurlbut. Our great grandfather! Here is what is on the census: James I. Hurlbut age 53 - Head M. Hurlbut age 43 - Wife Frank Hurlbut age 26 - Son M Jane Hurlbut age 13 - Daughter L M Hurlbut age 8 - Daughter Almila Lewis age 84 - Widowed Margaret Gurley - 46 - Single Crazy that there were two people that wasn't their immediate family. So...I tried to figure out who Almila Lewis is. It took me awhile, but I finally figured it out! I wondered if it was James' mother, but she had a different last name. So I decided to research it out. Here is what I finally found out....Almila is actually spelled Almira. She was actually James' mother! James' father died and she remarried making her last name Lewis. Her second husband died and that was why she was living with James and his family. Also, I figured out that the I. for James middle name was Isaac. I found out that Almira was James' mother by finding her marriage information for her second marriage which listed her name at that time as Almira Hurlbut. So, I went further and finally found the family on www.rootsweb.com. Almira's maiden name was Jennings. James father is Henry Hurlbut. Yay! I found the rest of their children as well. They had James listed among the family as Isaac Hurlbut so it was kind of difficult to find before. When I entered all the new family information into Family Search so I could do all the temple work. When I did that, I found that it was already all in the system but they didn't have James listed as one of the children. So...I added James as a child and had him sealed to his parents. Everything else was already done. The Hurlbut line goes back 1640 in Connecticut. If you want to see it....go to www.familysearch.org and you will be able to see it all! I was excited to find all that. It looks like the Hurlbut line was one of the first families in the United States. I can't wait to try and see what I can find on them!!

Edited 5/29/2013
I found the 1880 census record!  Here it is:

Hopeing to find the Passenger lists and Immigration papers

If any of you really read Marie's death certificate you will see that it lists her birthplace as Ohio. I have always been told and seen it written as Londonderry, Ireland. I believe this was just an error that was made when the death certificate as written. I have still never found a birth record for Marie or any of the Gurley children. I thought that if I could find their immigration/passenger list maybe I could determine where they were born and if any of the children were actually born in Ohio. The census record of 1850 states they were all born in Ireland. That was a big help to me. I thought that maybe if I found the parent's death records it might give me more information on their parents or where they lived. Crazy of me to think it would give me much information!! Their obituaries said nothing more than their death date and who their spouse was. Nothing more. It didn't even give me Jane's maiden name! I was very disappointed. Every record I requested from Ohio had very minimal information. I do have deeds, death records, marriage records for a few of the children and their obituaries. Not much to go on! If anyone would like copies of any of this information, let me know! I will email it to you.

1850 Census Record with the Gurley Family

This was the first record I could find that I thought might be the right Gurley family. I was still not sure because Marie was listed as Mariah, but everything else fit perfectly! They lived in the right area, the father's name was Thomas Gurley and they had a daughter who could be Marie born in the right year. I was so nervous to declare this as the right family for the longest time. After much prayer and thoughts, I finally decided to continue on with this family as the right one. Back in those days the census records were done with the census worker writing the information as the family told the them the information. Nothing was verified and many time names were written as they were 'heard' rather than how they were really spelled. So, I have determined this is the right family. After deciding this and finding other documents, I am about 99% sure this them! There were no other Gurley's living in the area at that time. So...now I had Marie as a child with her parents as Thomas and Jane Gurley! So exciting! The census record also lists 4 other children. Thomas, James, Margaret, Susanna and of course Marie as Mariah. There is also an 1860 census that shows Marie as Maria which is closer to the right name, but the record is very hard to read.

Marie Hurlbut Death Certificate

This is Marie Gurley Hurlbut's death certificate. Note that her father is listed as Thos Hurley. I'm sure the Hurley is a misprint that should be Gurley. Thos is a shortened version of Thomas. I wish that it had her mother's name listed!