CENTRE LINES

The DURST Family

This column is part of a feature series which focuses on a different Centre County family each week. Five new columns will be released each month unless some technical difficulty enters the picture.

This column's focus is on DURST. An effort has been made to identify all persons carrying that name in the 1890 U.S. Census, using the Centre County business directory which was formed from a preliminary review of that census before the larger set of 1890 U.S. Census records was destroyed by fire. (Sadly, the postal directory does not typically provide the ages of females, but it's the best record we've got).

One book in the Pennsylvania Room of the Centre County Library in Bellefonte apparently deals in part with the Durst family. It is Sanford Charles Gladden's The Durst and Darst Families of America with Discussions of Some Forty Related Families (Boulder, Colo., 1969).

There are 8 first-name entries for Durst in John Blair Linn's History of Centre and Clinton County (1883). In addition, there are several mentions of the name in Beers' Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania (1898).

And, now, your ancestors' Durst neighbors in 1890:

CENTRE HALL Borough:

Catharine Elizabeth

GREGG Township:

Grace--Centre Hall Hiram, 48, farmer--Farmers Mills Sarah Kate E. Anna E.

HARRIS Township:

Cyrus, 65, farmer--Boalsburg Mary A. Cora C. George F. 18

POTTER Township:

Alfred, 48, farmer--Potters Mills Elmira Jessie Verna Virginia A. Daniel, 80, retired--Centre Hall Mary George, 58, farmer--Centre Hall Sabina William H. 28 James, 37, farmer--Centre Hall Elmira K. William H. 12 Blanche Harry 3 Clara Philip P., 50, farmer--Centre Hall Sarah J. John H. 24 Christ 19 Ida Minnie Charles W. 12 Bessie L. Mary B. Samuel, 36, farmer--Centre Hall Alice J. Edward O. 10 Annie

RUSH Township:

William A., 31, laborer--Philipsburg Corala B.

UNION Township:

Earl, 7--Fleming