Hurd, Nathaniel (13 February 1730–17 December 1777), noted silversmith and engraver, was born in Boston, the son of Jacob Hurd, the leading Boston silversmith of his era, and Elizabeth Mason. He was enrolled at the Boston Latin School in 1738 and was probably also apprenticed to his father. Hurd seems to have begun his career in his father’s shop in the late 1740s. By 1760 he was working independently at his own shop on the Exchange in Boston, where “he continues to do all sorts of Goldsmith’s Work” and “Likewise engraves in Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, and Steel, in the neatest manner, and at reasonable Rates” (...
