Wood Hurt, an alert and enterprising business man who since 1918 has been financially interested in the Muskogee Wholesale Grocery Company and is also identified with other business interests of importance which contribute to general progress and prosperity as well as to individual success, was born in Hazen, Arkansas, on the 16th of August, 1877, and is a son of Thomas Spencer and Nellie (Myers) Hurt. The father was a farmer, devoting his entire life to agricultural pursuits.
The son was educated in the public schools and initiated his business career by securing a clerkship in a general store, in which he was employed for six years. He afterward engaged in the furniture business at Hazen, Arkansas, for a period of three years and in 1900 he removed to Oklahoma, establishing his home in McAlester, where he became a director of the Townsend Grocery Company. He was associated with that undertaking until 1904, when he sold his interest and became identified with the Hale-Halsell Grocery Company.
In 1913 he turned his attention to the wholesale produce business in Muskogee and later consolidated the business with that of the Muskogee Wholesale Grocery Company in 1918. He is likewise a director of the Ratcliff-Sanders Company of Tulsa and in 1916 he established the Wood Hurt Motor Company, handling the Buick cars and the G. M. C. motor trucks. His judgment is sound and his keen sagacity and un-abating energy are potent forces in the profitable management of various interests, and individual worth and ability has established him as one of the representative business men of the city.
On the 30th of December, 1902, Mr. Hurt was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Robinson of Hazen, Arkansas, and they have become parents of three children: Minnie Lynn, Myers and Joseph. Mr. Hurt is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and he also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Masonic lodge, and the Town and Country Club. The nature of his interests is further indicated in his connection with the Young Men’s Christian Association. His support at all times can be counted upon to further any measure which has to do with the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community at large. He has always recognized and fully met his obligations in the matter of citizenship, while in business circles he enjoys a most enviable reputation as a man of progressive ideals and one whose word is considered as good as any bond solemnized by signature or seal.