Congressman from Ohio during the early part of the American Civil War, serving two terms from 1859 to 1863.

He attended the district schools and received academic instruction before becoming an apprentice in the hatter’s trade.

He studied theology and became a minister, serving as pastor of the Universalist Church in Methuen, Massachusetts, from 1835–1838.

During the Civil War, Gurley served as colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. John C. Frémont in 1861 when Congress was not in session.

In 1863, Gurley was appointed Governor of the Arizona Territory by President Abraham Lincoln, but he died of a sudden attack of appendicitis in Green Township, near Cincinnati, on the eve of his departure to assume his duties.