John S. Wurts (1876-1958) was born in Carbondale and was educated at the West Jersey Military Academy graduating in 1893. He worked with his father Theodore F. Wurts in civil engineering and then took up the insurance business in Philadelphia in 1894. In 1898 he added real estate work to his career, beginning first in the office of Frederick Sylvester, and then opening an office of his own. Wurts also sold investment securities. He began studying law at the University of Pennsylvania but because he was so occupied with his business, he instead studied law with attorney S. Davis Page. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar and the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1904. Along with his father and several others, John S. Wurts formed the City Real Estate Company of Philadelphia. The company was incorporated in 1904 for the purpose of purchasing and selling real estate; holding, leasing, mortgaging, selling and improving real estate for purchasing; selling securities pertaining to real estate; and maintaining or erecting walls or banks for the protection of low-lying lands.

In addition to his business John S. Wurts, like his father, was involved in religious activities. He was a lay preacher and was a president of the World Association of Daily Vacation Bible Schools. Wurts was an active member in the Westside Presbyterian Church in Germantown. He also published pamphlets on religious topics such as "A Brief Statement of the Christian Faith." He was a member of the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Y.M.C.A.

Wurts was very interested in history and was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Bucks County Historical Society; the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution; Site and Relic Society of Germantown; and was president of both the Pennsylvania Legal Historical Society and Descendants of the Continental Congress. He published a two volume set entitled Magna Charta examining the history of the document and the containing biographies and genealogies of those men responsible for it. Another of his interests was genealogy and he frequently wrote to family members, both distantly and closely related, for information. He was instrumental in having articles published about his family's genealogy. Because of his interest in genealogy, Wurts became the custodian of family papers that his son John S. Wurts gave as a gift to Hagley Museum and Library in 1990.

John S. Wurts married Dorothy B. Williams and they had four children, two sons and two daughters. He and his family resided in Germantown.