Nancy Elizabeth Turpin was born 25 February 1861 in Greene County, Iowa. Nancy was one of the daughters who moved to northern Nebraska with her father Newt Turpin and his new wife Mary Ellen Leonard.
Nancy and her younger sister Hannah were married on 12 Oct 1880 -- just a few years after arriving in Nebraska. Nancy married Joe Bell; Hannah Catherine married Douglas Bell, Joe's brother. Like Nancy and Hannah, the Bell brothers had Iowa roots.
The sisters and their husbands soon moved to Williston, North Dakota. The first to head towards the Dakota territories was the father-in-law Jacob Bell and his son Bent. They were looking for land and hunting buffalo. Then it seems Hannah and Douglas followed. Eventually Nancy and Joe must have joined them.
Nancy and Joe had only one child, Robert W. who was born about 1893 according to the 1910 census. Their son was accidentally killed while using a gun. So this is another branch of the Turpin family that does not have current day descendents.
Both Nancy and Joe were living in Williston in 1925 according to the census that year. I can't find them in the 1930 census but I have not combed it line by line yet. It would be interesting to know more about them. Nancy's sister Hannah left information about her life in North Dakota -- so we can extrapolate and imagine a little of what Nancy's life might have been like.
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