Mary Ellen Leonard

Mary Ellen Leonard Turpin

Back to Newt Turpin’s family…  

Newt and Sarah had a family of nine children and we understand from family tradition that Sarah died suddenly in 1872 after being ill for only 42 hours.  At the time of her death, most of the Turpin children were grown.  Several had died and only three daughters remained at home:  Emma Zetta, Nancy, and Hannah.  Sarah is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery northwest of Rippey, Greene County, Iowa. 

The story then strays into a soggy research area….it says that Newt and Mary Ellen Leonard got married in Pottawattamie County, Iowa by Justice of the Peace Washallkey on September 16, 1873.   No records exist for that marriage or a Justice with that name.  And why would they get married in Pottawattamie County, across the Missouri River from Nebraska, instead of in Greene County?  But I don’t see a marriage record in Greene County either.

Doc Middleton and the Niobrara River Settlers

A follow-up to Susan Ingraham's information:

We know from history that for a number of years Nebraska's Niobrara River area was the home territory for many horse thieves, including the notorious D.C. "Doc" Middleton.  The terrain made the area ideal for hiding.  Vigilante committees were formed to hunt down anyone who seemed even slightly suspicious.  As a result, neighbors sometimes would suspect neighbors and any little action suddenly became the grounds for accusations.

It was said that Newt Turpin, as well as other neighbors, stayed "on friendly terms" with Middleton.  Rock and Brown County were sparsely settled and people had to depend on one another.  If someone wanted to steal your horses, they could.  If they wanted to be good to you, they could.  The law was too far away to act as a referee.  Harold Hutton’s book The Luckiest Outlaw (The Luckiest Outlaw: The Life and Legends of Doc Middleton, Harold Hutton, Lincoln: Bison Books, 1992) explains that the settlers in northern Nebraska were aware that Doc expected friendliness and frequently could be good-hearted in return.  Hutton also described how the Tienken brothers, Holt County’s German settlers, did not have the right attitude and suffered at the hands of Doc and his friends.

"A Shooting Affray"

Robert Newton Turpin

Susan Ingraham is a fellow Turpin descendent.  Newt is her great-great-great grandfather and my great grandfather.  She has sent in the following on our common ancestor:
 
My maternal great-great-great grandfather, Robert Newton Turpin, certainly came to an unfortunate end, and the local newspaper told about it. Robert (who was usually called Newt from his middle name) was born in 1821; married twice, he was the father of 19 children. Born in Virginia, he moved quite often, living in Indiana, Iowa, and eventually Nebraska.

In 1893, when he was 72 years old, Newt was involved in a dispute with another rancher. He was shot on May 11, died on May 18, and was buried on May 20, 1893, at Willowdale Cemetery near Bassett, Nebraska. He left behind his widow, Mary Ellen, with nine children, the youngest only a baby. Newt’s children from his first marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Lowery were grown by the time of his death, ranging in age from 29 to 50. Just a few months previously, his granddaughter, Josephine Amanda Porter, had married Michael James Mahoney in Heartwell, Nebraska. Josephine Amanda Porter was my great-grandmother.

#9 Hannah Catherine Turpin - Another Adventurer

Hannah Catherine
Turpin Bell

Hannah Catherine Turpin was the youngest child born to Sarah Elizabeth Lowery Turpin and Robert Newton Turpin.  

We are so fortunate that Hannah left her story for others to read. She chronicled her pioneering adventures for the Williston Daily Herald and it is an amazing story.  It reminds us that we need to write our own stories to share with others in the family. Of course Hannah’s example could intimidate us into wondering what anyone would find fascinating about our own lives.  But don’t you think that Hannah was a bit like us though?  She probably thought her own life was somewhat normal…until the newspaper wanted to do a story on her.

Hannah was born 25 December 1864 in Greene County, Iowa.  She arrived in Nebraska with her father and step-mother.  Her step-mother was almost the same age as she was.  Soon after coming to Nebraska, she married Douglas Bell.  I have the marriage date as Oct 12, 1880 and the marriage records should be in Holt County, Nebraska.  I found Nancy and Joe’s marriage but not this one.