#8 -- Nancy the Adventurous Daughter

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. 

Seventh Child Emma Zetta Turpin

Emma Zetta was the seventh child in the family of Robert Newton Turpin and Sarah Elizabeth Lowery.   I love the name Emma Zetta!  While searching censuses, I noticed that there was another Emma Zetta born in Iowa in 1858.  So out of curiosity I googled the name and found plenty of them – it was obviously a name making the rounds in the 1800s. 

Yet the 1870 census taker mangled her name quite badly.  Here is a clip from that census when the Turpin family lived in Grand Junction, Washington Township, Greene County, IA.   Emma Zetta appears as Henertta.  Even the name Turpin is mangled.  

This census was post-Civil War.  Thomas has died, as has Martha.  Margaret is out of the house and married. Anna and her husband Will Turpen are living next door.  With a household full of women, Newt has a 13-year-old boy, William Pickett, living with them to help with the farm.



Turpin Family in 1870 Census



Sixth Child Mary Amanda Turpin – A Nebraska Pioneer

Robert Newton Turpin arrived in Nebraska in April 1878 and settled in what is now Rock County, Nebraska.  However one of his daughters, Mary Amanda Turpin Porter, arrived earlier!  Known as Amanda, she was born on 14 Oct 1855 while the Turpins were still in McLean County, Illinois.1 

Amanda was the sixth child.  According to the marriage records, she married 25 October 1871 in Greene County, Iowa “on consent of Mary's mother” to William Cassius Porter.2  The Porter had eight children:  Charles A. Porter, Josephine Amanda Porter Mahoney, Leona A. Porter Howard, Frederick A. Porter, Louisa I. Porter Converse, Mary E. Porter Holmes, William E. Porter, and Daniel O. Porter.3

Louise Anne “Anna” Turpin, Fifth Child

Anna Turpin was born 25 Dec 1852 in Illinois (or Indiana according to the 1856 Iowa Census).  At a young age, she married Will Turpen who was about 25 years old.  They married 10 March 1868 in Greene County, Iowa.

When Will first came to Greene County from Owen County, Indiana, he reportedly lived with his Uncle Nate.  I believe Uncle Nate is actually Newt.  Robert Newton Turpin was known as Newt -- many in the Turpin family were known by their middle name or a nickname. 

Will is almost definitely the son of  Jim Turpen and his wife Nancy Jane Carter who followed the Turpin clan from Owen County, Indiana to Greene County, Iowa.  Their son Will was born in 1844.  Anna's husband Will would have been born approximately 1843-44.  This would make Anna and Will first cousins.

Iowa 10th Infantry Regiment, Company H

Using ancestry.com’s American Civil War Regiments records, I did some follow-up research on the regiment Thomas Benton Turpin joined. That set of records consists of four sections: regiment records, soldiers, battle histories, and officer records.

Thomas only served a few months before he died however I wanted to check to see who else might have enlisted with him.

After searching for the Iowa 10th Infantry Regiment, I reviewed the three year history of the regiment. I see that 10 companies were mustered in during September and October.

“The regiment received its equipment at St. Louis and moved to Cape Girardeau, where it went into camp. In early November it was ordered to Bloomfield to drive out Jeff Thompson's force, but found it gone on its arrival. Taking possession of a large amount of property left by Thompson, it returned to Cape Girardeau, and in December went into winter quarters at Bird's Point.”

Veteran’s Day Research

Charles is a common name in the Turpin family.  One of Robert Newton Turpin’s sons was named Charles Francis Turpin.  Today I’m looking at one of his great nephews who registered for both World War I and II.

Charles L. Turpin was a great nephew of Robert Newton Turpin.  Born 1877 in McLean County, Illinois to William Richard Turpin and Audra Adeline Hinthorn, he was the grandson of Henry W. Turpin.  He married Nancy Leona Turney in 1891 and Martha Frances Huffington in 1897.

Martha Ellen, the Fourth Child

Martha was the infant child of Newt and Elizabeth who died tragically.  The story is that she was bitten by a mad dog. Martha was born 18 March 1851. I’m not sure where.  She died at the age of 10 months.  If the story is correct, it would place her death in mid-January 1852.  I have not found a gravesite for Martha. 

Where does one look for more information on a child that had such a short life?  I need to start with the family timeline and see if I can determine where the family lived at that point in time.