Sarah (Babcock) Hurley was born in Ohio, November 26, 1831, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. N. G. Clement, near North Loup, Neb., June 19, 1909.
With the exception of the last few years, which she spent in the home of her daughter, she has lived at Welton, Iowa, since 1854. She belonged to a generation in which industry and economy were essential to a livelihood, and she developed those virtues to a good degree. On July 7, 1850, she was united in marriage to Leven Hurley. To them were born nine children: six sons - Lewis A. and John G. of Welton; Theodore of Garwin, Iowa; Rev James H. of New Auburn, Wisconsin; Charles of Minnesota, and Grant of California; and one daughter, Mrs. N. G. Clement of North Loup, Nebraska. Also a step-son, Henry Hurley of Talent, Ore., survive her. Three brothers - Dea. James O. Babcock, of Welton, Dea. Wilson, Babcock of North Loup, Neb., and Hurley Babcock of Gentry, Ark., and one sister, Mrs. Martha Van Horn of Welton, are still living. Besides these, twenty-five grandchildren and great grand children, and a large circle of other relatives mourn their loss. She made a profession of religion in early life and maintained a consistent Christian life to the end. She was a constituent member of the Welton Seventh-day Baptist Church and retained membership in that church until her death. She was a lover of the Bible and, in her later days, a constant reader of its pages. The day before she was stricken with the paralytic shock which resulted in her death, she read the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, and remarked to her daughter that she found them freshly interesting. She did not regain consciousness after she was stricken.
Brief services at the home of her daughter were conducted by Pastor Geo. B. Shaw of North Loup, and the body was brought to Welton where funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Geo. W. Burdick. G. W. B.
