Menlo Post Office

Here is a short dive into the post offices and county development in the area where Newt Turpin lived. 

Menlo 

A contemporary county history, Andreas’ History of the State of Nebraska (1882), describes Menlo this way: “Menlo post office was established in the fall of 1879… It is situated on the bank of the Niobrara River, between two groves.”

It says the first Menlo settlement was in April 1878 by R. W. Turpin, D. Childs, and Henry Hoffman. It also records that Susan Turpin, born 25 February 1879 (I have her birth date as 24 February) was the first child born there.

Rock County Centennial Book gives a little more geographic precision. It places Menlo on the Niobrara near the mouth of Ash Creek and says that the Menlo post office was the first area post office, established 23 September 1879. That area later became Rock County (see below regarding post offices).

Perkey’s Names of Nebraska Locations lists the Menlo post office as established 11 July 1880, and discontinued 4 October 1883, and says it was probably named for Menlo, Iowa. The two dates are due to county formations done by breaking up a previous county. Menlo PO changed descriptive locations three times without ever moving and there is no discrepancy. The place that became Menlo was originally in an unorganized county area of Nebraska.

Holt County, Nebraska, was originally created on 13 January 1860 as West County from unorganized territory. It was officially renamed Holt County on 9 January 1862.

Brown County was created and organized on 19 February 1883 from unorganized territory west of Holt County.  So, Menlo was originally in Holt County; then in Brown County there was both Menlo and Mariaville Post Offices.  My thought is Mariaville PO was closer to the Turpin family and Thomas Peacock as postmaster is added evidence.

Rock County, Nebraska, was officially formed on 6 November 1888. On 8 May 1992 Mariaville PO is in Rock County and Menlo is not – Thomas Peacock continued as postmaster.

While there is no mention of Newt Turpin (Robert Newton Turpin) in the postmaster records, there may be information in congressional records where there was a request to establish a post office. This would not be the first time the family was involved in the post office as Newt’s daughter Amanda was postmaster at Heartwell in Kearney County, Nebraska.

Rock County is Volume 57 ca. 1881-1892 in U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971. The records show the date of establishment and discontinuance of post offices, changes of names of post offices, and names and appointment dates for their postmasters.

The database also includes dates of Presidential appointments of postmasters and their confirmation dates by the Senate. Starting in 1870, the records contain names of post offices where discontinued post office’s mail was sent. 1832 - 1950, these records were kept by assistants to the Postmaster General. 1950 - 1971, the Bureau of Post Office Operations compiled the records. Up to 1930, the records are arranged by location and then alphabetically by name of post office. After 1930, there are two types of records. They are arranged alphabetically by name of post office and alphabetically by the appointment’s name. The records include:

·       Name

·       Appointment date

·       Vacancy cause

·       Vacancy date

·       Post office location

·       State

·       County

·       Volume

 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Original data: Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971; Microfilm publication M841, 145 rolls; NAID: 596306 and 17027522; Records of the Post Office Department, 1773 - 1971, Record Group 28; The National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Follow-up on James R. Carter (Nov. 12 blogpost)

 

In my Nov 12th blogpost about the Iowa 10th Infantry and Thomas Benton Turpin, I mentioned James R. Carter enlisting at the same time.  

James R. Carter of Rippey enlisted as a Private on 23 August 1861 at the age of 18 in Company H, 10th Infantry Regiment Iowa on 7 Sep 1861.

James is the same age as Thomas.  Carter was probably Thomas’s grandmother’s maiden name. So looking to see if there is a connection could help me. A bit of research shows there are no records of him in Greene County, Iowa in the 1860 census. I may want to scan the census in case the indexing is in error. I don’t see any James Carters in 1870 census that look like a potential match either. There is a 1890 Veteran’s Schedule which shows many James Carters. I guess this is a research project to put on my rainy day list.

Dennis Bell found the following entry for a James R. Carter in the 1860 census of Washington, Warren Co., Iowa.  Dennis suggested:

... he might be the James R. Carter (b. ABT 1843 in Indiana) who lived in Warren Co. IA in 1860?  See the below.  It appears to me that Charlotte (b. ABT 1820 in Indiana) is his mother, and that she remarried to John Epps and started a 2nd family.  John and Charlotte Epps were living in Washington, Greene, Iowa in the 1870 census.  John Epps was a widower in the 1880 census (Indianola, Warren, Iowa).

1860 Census of Washington, Warren Co., IA for James R. Carter

The beauty of cluster research!  I saw that E. A. D. J. Carter

Michael Turpin's Complete Will

Signatures on Michael Turpin's Last Will and Testament

In May 2016, I blogged about Michael Turpin’s will.  I had found a portion of it quoted on a website. Since that time, I have located a copy of the complete will.   It names three sons of Michael and Edith Turpin – Obediah (who seems to be the oldest), John, and James.  I have transcribed it below as best as I could.   Italics are used for verbiage that I couldn't quite interpret.

Michael Turpin’s Last Will and Testament

In the name of God, Amen.  I Michael Turpin of the County of Halifax being very sick and weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be to God calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain in this my last will and testament that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul unto the hand of almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the general resurrection.  I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to help me in this life I give, devise, dispose of the same in the following manner and form.

I give and bequeath to my well beloved wife Edith all my stock of all kinds also my household furniture and the land which lies the other side of the creek during her lifetime and then to decend to my son John and James.  Secondly I give to my son Obediah Turpin who I likewise ordain, constitute, and appoint with his two brothers before named to be my executors of this my last will and testament, the remainder part of land to him and his heirs forever and if the rent of the said land does not pay for the land at the end of four years then each of the boys before mentioned to pay equally what is their due.  I also give my mill and the profits one half to wife Edith and the other half to my son Obediah by him freely to be possessed and enjoyed and I do hereby xxxxly disallow, revoke and disannull all and every other form in testaments, wills, legacies, bequests and executors by me in anywise before named willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness xxx I have here unto set my hand and seal this second day of September in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety three.  Signed, sealed, published, pronounced, and declared by the said Michal Turpin as his last will and testament in the presents of us who in his presence and in the presence of each other have here unto subscribed our names. 

Michael (his mark) Turpin

Allen Whitehead

Benjamin Clements

Josiah (his mark) Shelton

The Long Line

1870s Nebraska with unorganized territory

This week's challenge for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Long Line."  For the Turpin family, the Long Line is one drawn on a map of the United States, stretching from Virginia to Nebraska and then beyond.  

My great grandfather Newt Turpin (Robert Newton Turpin) hailed from Halifax County, Virginia.  He was born there in 1821 when the Louisiana Purchase and the expedition of Lewis and Clark could have been considered “old news” by many.  Yet America was still a nation composed of unconnected pieces.  Linking the colonial settlements to that newly added area was a huge challenge for a number of reasons.  But people moved west regardless of the challenges.  It is estimated that a million citizens left Virginia for new territory after the Revolution and before the Civil War.  Our Turpin family was among them and their journeys were long.

The mountains were difficult. The frontier was hazardous. The roads were few. At that point in time several routes to the Ohio River existed along the lines of the old Indian paths.  Some were considered roads.  But simply put, moving a family over the mountains and out into the new lands was problematic and wrought with danger.  Usually a family’s supplies and cherished items traveled in the wagon. The family walked along side or rode horses if they had them. Perhaps they took a flatboat part of the way. How many miles a day could a family travel?  How many wild rivers had to be crossed?  How many times would a wagon break down or a horse go lame?  How many encounters did people have with wild animals or the indigenous people?  

Before Newt was born, several Turpin families had made their way to homes in Owen County, Indiana. Obediah and his son Thomas’s family show up in the 1820 census. Newt’s parents, John and Elizabeth, came along later -- by the time the 1830 census was taken. So, Newt was a very young child when he made the journey from Virginia.

In the 1850s, Newt and his family headed to into Illinois. Newt’s sixth child Mary Amanda Turpin Porter was born there in 1855.  By 1858, they were in Greene County, Iowa where Emma Zetta Turpin Groves, their seventh child, was born.

After the death of Newt’s wife Sarah Elizabeth Lowery in 1872, Newt married Mary Ellen Leonard.  This is when Newt “pulled up stakes” again and headed further down the line to Nebraska. The grown children in the family stayed in Iowa. The young daughters joined the journey west. 

At the age of 51, Newt had moved halfway across the continent, crossing frontier land by horse and wagon. He had to be an incredibly strong, resilient, and hopeful person to face all those new horizons.  Life had to be easier in Virginia. You could always rely on a neighbor to find out how something was done. In Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska there were few neighbors. No one to ask!

One of Newt’s youngest daughters, Lettie, moved to California as a young woman. I feel confident in saying she probably went by train. That journey was probably much easier than her father’s many treks.  All the same, Lettie covered the second half of the North American continent that her father did not get to experience.  

Few stories were handed down through the generations of the Turpin family.  Most of what we know has been reconstructed piece by piece from documents left behind. We don’t know the ins and outs of their travels so for that reason I would love to go back in time and experience a day or so of each of those journeys Newt Turpin took.  One with young Newt and his parents crossing the Appalachian Mountains.  One crossing the Wabash River with Sarah and the children.  Another crossing the Mississippi River and traveling through Iowa. And finally, the with Mary Ellen trip crossing the Missouri and heading into the Unorganized Territory of Nebraska.