A table-blade forger, John Blackhurst was born in Sheffield in 1818. He represented fellow workers in trade disputes and was noted for his eloquence. He was the son of Stephen Blackhurst, a shoemaker, who died in 1847 (aged 70) after being run over in Love Lane by a horse and cart (Sheffield Independent, 13 March 1847). Within days of the tragedy, the local press noted that ‘our eloquent townsman left Sheffield for Liverpool to embark for New York’ (Sheffield Independent, 3 April 1847). Blackhurst had been a Wesleyan lay preacher in Sheffield, having been converted in his youth. In 1850, he was living in Galena Township, Illinois, and working as a ‘smelter’. He headed for Dane County, Wisconsin, and became a deacon. Reverend Blackhurst died in Argyle, Wisconsin, on 6 October 1859, declaiming ‘Glory! Glory! Glory!’ as he passed away (Sheffield Independent, 23 June 1860). He was buried at Old Argyle Cemetery, Argyle, Lafayette, Wisconsin.