John Hurt

Reverend John Hurt (1752 – 1824) was an American Episcopal minister and army chaplain from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was the first official United States Army Chaplain. Personal and family life Little is known about Hurt's early life. Many of the records of his birth, early education and marriages were destroyed by Union soldiers near the conclusion of the American Civil War. Some genealogical records place bid birth as early as 1738 (six years after George Washington's). However, most historical accounts and genealogical records put it in 1752 (three years before Alexander Hamilton's). This confusion is mostly from the Hurt family's reuse of given names over several generations. Some sources list James Hurt and Jane Bickley as parents, while others claim that Jane Bickley died prior to Hurt's birth and instead list Benjamin Hurt and Anne Newman as parents. What is known about Hurt's early life is that he came from a long line of devout anglicans. Two of his relatives (probably his uncles), Philemon and William Hurt, were also Anglican ministers before the American War of Independence. After the Continental Army's victory, Anglicans in the United States restructured the church. It was renamed the Episcopal church, due to broken ties with England and, by association, the Church of England. Hurt was ordained as a minister in Trinity Parish on December 21, 1774. After his extensive military service in the revolution as a chaplain, he married Nellie McTaggart of Virginia in 1785. The exact date is disputed. They had two daughters, Martha Patsy and Sarah Elizabeth Hurt. After his wife's death, he married Sallie Franklin. The date of the marriage is disputed, between 1788 and 1796. They had two sons, James and Samuel Jones Hurt. Much like the accounts of his early life, the historical and genealogical records often conflict on the dates and even years of his marriages and births of his children.