Lebius B. Hursh
Born: May 12, 1837
Died: May 30, 1913, aged 76
Location: Old Section C, Lot 32
Lebius Hursh, also known as Lebus and Lebeus, was born in Irwin, Westmoreland County, to parents, Joseph, a local shoemaker, and Christina (McKelvey) Hursh. He was the eldest of six children, and worked as a coal miner and mill laborer throughout his life.
He lived for more than 40 years in Homestead.
Hursh had enlisted as an Army Corporal at the onset of the Civil War, and had belonged to several units, including Company H, 14th Regiment; Company H, 136th Regiment; and later in Company F, 193rd Regiment; and Company C, 77th Regiment, PA Volunteers. He had been present at the Battle of Gettysburg.
He was a devoted member of Gen. Charles Griffin post of the G. A. R., Homestead, and, according to his Post-Gazette obituary, Hursh had met with fellow members of the Post the previous evening to complete arrangements for the following days Memorial Day services. In the early morning of May 30th, Memorial Day, he suddenly took ill in his residence at 3551 Fourth Avenue, Homestead, and was pronounced dead around 3 AM. His death certificate lists "cerebral meningitis" due to alcoholism as his cause of death.
It's noted that it was the first Memorial Day service he'd missed in many years, and a young boy alerted his Post of his death just as Adjutant J. K. P. Shumacker was about to publicly mark his absence.
His funeral arrangements were handled by Gillen & Coulter of 8th Avenue, Homestead, and he was buried in the Homestead Cemetery on June 2, 1913.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes (Gibbons) Hursh, whom he had married in 1865. She died at the age of 66 on March 25, 1905.
Together, they had six children of which only four survived into adulthood. He was survived by his son, Albert (Nora) Hursh; and daughters, Margaret (John T.) Potts and Lacea (John) Darken/Dierken. His son, William "Willie" D. Hursh, preceded him in death in 1911 at the age of 35-36.
Lebius, his wife, and his son, Willie, are all buried in Old Section C, lot 32.
Information gathered from:
"Lebus B. Hursh," Pittsburgh Daily Post, 31 May 1913, p. 3.
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, PA; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1968; Certificate Number Range: 044361-047820
"The Death Roll, Lebus B. Hursh," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 31 May 1913, p. 6.
Year: 1860; Census Place: North Huntingdon, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1196; Page: 806; Family History Library Film: 805196