Born in Canada in 1876 and raised in South Dakota, Hurd was educated at Beloit Academy and Colorado College. He spent most of his adult life working for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Hurd served as a station agent in Las Animas, Colorado. Hurd worked for the Santa Fe from 1902 until his retirement in 1946. He was promoted to station agent in 1917 and resided in Las Animas from 1920 until his death in 1963. He was also the local agent in Las Animas for American Railway Express and for the Railway Savings and Building Association, a Pueblo enterprise. In addition to his railroad career, Hurd was a historian and wrote a number of articles and other material pertaining to the history of Colorado, and was an acknowledged expert on Bent's Fort, an early-day trading post on the Arkansas River near present-day La Junta, Colorado. He served for 35 years as a member of the Bent County Chapter House of the Red Cross. He was a long-time member of the school board, active supporter of the public library and the local Presbyterian Church. He was a charter member of the Las Animas Lion's Club, organized in 1921 and an active member of the Thursday Evening Men's Study Club. Hurd died September 11, 1963 at the age of 87. He was survived by a daughter, Mrs. Octavia Beck and a son, Rex Hurd. Mrs. Julia Reyher Hurd, his wife, died in 1952.