Hurley Family Emigrant Letters (Ref. U170)

Denis Hurley (1849-1938) became one of the most prominent citizens of Carson City, Nevada. Following his arrival in Nevada, he worked with the Virginia and Truckee Railway for many years before obtaining employment as a prison guard at the State prison in c.1912 (U611/63). In c.1887, he married his wife, Maggie, also an emigrant from Ireland, in Carson City. His wife died of Typhoid in 1910 (U611/59). Active in politics, in c.1913, after a number of attempts, Denis was elected as a Commissioner of Carson City (U170/58). In 1925 he was elected as Chairman (Mayor) of Carson City Council (U611/89). Denis made several investments in stocks and shares, and was at one stage a director and stockholder of the Nye and Ormsby Bank (U611/44). In his final years he worked as Baliff of the U.S. District Court for Nevada. A man of great religious commitment, he was active in the Catholic Church and became a 4 th degree Knight of Columbus in 1923 (U611/82). Evidently highly literate and well-read, Denis in his letters makes many observations on events local, national and international.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content The major part of the present collection comprises of 122 letters home to Ireland from Michael and Denis Hurley in the United States over a period of 77 years from 1871 to 1938. The majority (117) of the letters are written by Denis Hurley, although Denis does regularly pass on news of his brother Michael. The earlier letters are mainly addressed to their parents at Tawnies, Clonakilty, and later on to their brothers and sisters, and finally to their nieces in Clonakilty and Timoleague, County Cork. The letters have been arranged chronologically. The letters reveal much about emigrant life in the United States, in particular the experiences of those who migrated to the Western states, usually after arriving on the East coast (U170/2). At the time, these states had a very large number of emigrants from all around the world, many of whom worked in the mining industry and the railroads (U170/1, /3). Although often optimistic about living conditions, the letters reveal the hardships facing emigrants (U170/45, /52, /92). Despite these hardships, neither Denis nor Michael seem to have considered returning permanently to Ireland, ‘…to struggle on an Irish Farm…’ (U170/49). The letters make frequent observations on poor living conditions in Ireland, such as the cost of land, high rents and low prices for crops ‘…living in misery trying to raise rent to pay the tyrant Lords.’(U170/13) (see also /14, /15, /20); although some later observations about Ireland are more optimistic (U170/62, /90). The brothers maintained strong contacts with Ireland through their correspondence and through newspapers sent from home (U170/4), and they kept an interest in Irish affairs, and often wrote of their support of the Home Rule movement (U170/21, /61, /62, /67). Later on, Denis supported the Irish Republic for which he subscribed funds and spoke at meetings (U170/75, /82). Denis’ concern for Ireland during the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War is apparent from some of his letters from that time