Margaret Bridget O’Loughlin Hurst took to heart the lessons taught to her by her mother. She was a faithful Catholic who was devoted to her family and to her community. Known as Maggie in her younger years, she was the eldest child of John and Mary O’Loughlin’s seven children and was born September 27, 1883, 10 years after her father established his trading post and became the first permanent resident of Lakin.
Maggie attended school in Lakin until leaving for Wichita where she received her high school education from the Sisters of Mount Carmel. She graduated with high honors and received a gold medal for Christian doctrine in June of 1903. The popular and well-known young lady returned to Lakin where she eventually became deputy clerk in the District Court. On February 12, 1916, at the Catholic Church in Garden City, Maggie married former Southside farmer Bertchard Hurst who had recently moved to Ingalls where he was engaged in the hardware business. The two made their home in Ingalls until 1920 when they moved to Dodge City. Bert became a highly successful salesman for J.I. Case. He contracted pneumonia after assisting motorists through snow drifts during a severe storm in February 1927 and died on March 5 at the age of 39. Margaret was left to raise their two children, eight-year-old Betty Hurst (Williams) and three-year-old Frederick. Eventually the threesome moved to Lakin and into Margaret’s childhood home to care for her mother, Mary.
During the Great Depression, there were almost no employment opportunities for teenagers, and many young people had nothing to occupy their time. To combat this situation, the National Youth Administration was created, and Margaret was appointed to head the program in Kearny County. She inspired many young people to take an interest in projects for the betterment of the community. The NYA sponsored programs for vocational guidance and recreation, and under Mrs. Hurst’s direction, the local group made many useful things such as road and bridge signs, chairs and tables for schools, and birdhouses for Preston Osborn’s biological survey,
Margaret began researching history in 1942 and became an authority on the history of Southwest Kansas and Kearny County. She was elected as the first historian of the Kearny County Historical Society when it was organized in 1957, and she was an indispensable guide through the tangle of history of the early years of the county. Margaret lived through a great deal of the history herself, remembered stories told to her by the old-timers, conducted many personal interviews, and saved historical articles. She spent a great deal of time corresponding with handwritten letters to those who had moved away from the community to gather information for the History of Kearny County volume books.
In a note addressed to Naomi Burrows, chief of the editorial staff of the second volume, Margaret wrote, “I have sent more than 60 envelopes to the museum, but I am afraid time will run out for me before I get this work completed.” Margaret lived to see the second volume published and tendered her resignation as historian at the age of 92. She died November 3, 1977, less than a month after attending ceremonies for the unveiling of the O’Loughlin monument and dedication of the Kearny County Historical Society site which was donated by the O’Loughlin family.
Margaret O’Loughlin Hurst was a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Altar Society, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, and Kearny County Old Settlers where she served terms as president and secretary/treasurer. She was a kind and true pioneer of the western plains who was always eager to share her knowledge and help others.
SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of the Wichita Daily Eagle, Catholic Advance, Advocate and Independent, and Museum archives.