George Washington Turpen, #7

George is my favorite child in Jim and Janey’s family because he helped make one of the Turpin connections.  George's son Homer and my mother Letha met up in Iowa and looked for the tie our families.   What were the chances that the Turpens of Greene County, Iowa were NOT related to the Turpins of Greene County, Iowa?   How we were connected was the question. (I think the question is answered by recognizing Jim Turpen as the older brother of Robert Newton Turpin.)

George was the seventh child in his family. He was born 26 December 1856 in Owen County, Indiana.  Their part of the family had not yet left Indiana.  But we capture him in the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses in Greene County, Iowa.  In the last census, he is living with his son Homer Turpen.

George married Mabel Davis on 30 June 1887.  George and Mabel farmed in Greene County. Their family included Clarence A., Pearl, Verna, Homer D., Gladys, and Florence. Homer Turpen had a son Duane R. Turpen of Kansas City, Missouri.  I have not followed up on the other children.

In the 1910 census, George’s mother Janey is still alive at age 94 and living with him.   The census listed her birth year as 1816.  Many censuses confirm that she was born a Virginian but the 1910 census leaves us with a question -- what does it say???

Janey Turpen's birthplace of Virginia is crossed out and replaced by...something.

George Turpen died 13 April 1932.  Mabel died a few years before in 1929.  George and Mabel are buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery where so many other Turpins were laid to rest.

Samuel Allan Turpin, the Sixth Child

Before I tell about Samuel, I want to point out something about the times in which Jim and Janey Turpen's family lived.  You'll notice that some of their children went to the west coast.  Samuel and his wife Lydia "stayed put" in Iowa.  Even Samuel's brother-in-law John Thornton moved west.  

Jim and Janey’s sixth child was Samuel Allan Turpin. Samuel was born 5 March, 1854 near Spencer, Owen County, Indiana.  He remembered moving to Iowa when he was seven years old.   He farmed southeast of Jefferson, Greene County, Iowa most of his life and was a well-respected citizen.  

Samuel married Lydia Jane Thornton on 7 February 1879.  Lydia was born and raised in Greene County, Iowa.  She was born 3 January 1857 to James and Jane Parker Thornton.

Samuel died 2 January 1927 shortly after the death of his older brother Henry W. Turpin of Fowler, California.  Lydia, Samuel’s widow, lived until 26 July 1950.  She had a brother who survived her, James Thornton of Walla Walla, Washington.

Samuel and Lydia were members of the Central Christian Church of Jefferson and after Samuel’s death Lydia gave the church a Moller pipe organ in his memory.  While they had no children, they were remembered in their obituaries in the Jefferson Bee newspaper.

William Turpen, 2nd Child

I skipped over William Turpen, the second child of Jim and Janey Turpen.   He is discussed in a previous blog post: 
http://turpintraces.blogspot.com/2011/11/louise-anne-anna-turpin-fifth-child.html

William Turpen married Louise Anne (Anna) Turpin who was Newt Turpin's daughter and William's cousin.  

They had five children: 

James N. (b. 1870 IA), Mary (b. 1873 IA), Susan E. (b. @1875 IA), Katherine “Kate” (b. @ 1877 IA), and Carrie B. (b. 1880 IA). 

Anna died in 1880, perhaps in childbirth.  This left Will with the difficult task of raising small children.  He remarried 9 August 1887 to Mary A. Edwards.  Anna is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Greene County, Iowa.  Will died in 1923.

James’ Children - Susa,1st Child

I plan to blog what I’ve found on the known children of James Turpen.  This is a first post on his children.

From the www.sweetowen.net website, Nancy Jane Carter -- is this Jim and Janey?

Susa was the first child of James and Janey (Carter).   Susa was probably born about 1838 and is indicated in the 1840 census records of Owen County, Indiana as a daughter less than five years of age.  She is a 12-year-old in the 1850 census.  Since James and Janey cannot be found in an 1860 census, when Susa would have been 22, she drops from sight in that big time gap of 20 years.  That presents a research challenge.

Her name appears once, on a single census so it could be misspelled or shortened by the census taker.  Susa could have died.  She might have gotten married in Owen County, Indiana or Greene County, Iowa but there doesn’t seem to be any clues in the marriage records.  We don’t know where the family lived in Arkansas but we might find traces of her there someday.  It's an open project!

James of course had a son before he married Janey Carter.  When he was married to Jane Mills in Virginia, they had a son.  Both Jane and son are gone from records after 1830.  The most likely explanation is death but this is another open project. 

James Turpen Summary

James was born about 1806 and could definitely be a child of John Turpin and brother to Newt Turpin.  He moved from Virginia to Indiana with John’s family, then from Indiana to Iowa with Newt’s family.  He and his children sometimes spelled their name with an “e” and sometimes with an “i” but it’s the same family.  Some descendants of this Turpen branch still live in the Rippey, Iowa area.

Jim’s tombstone says he was born in 1790 and died 6 Dec 1886.  It’s doubtful that James was born before 1800.  John and Elizabeth were married 1797.  Also, various census records estimate James’ birth in a number of different years but very likely he was born about 1806 in Halifax County, Virginia.  

Jim can be detected in the John Turpin household in Marseilles, Halifax County, Virginia in the 1820 census by his age – there is a son listed who is 10-16 years old.  In 1827, he married Jane Mills.  By 1830, he is listed as living next to John Turpin with his wife and a son under five years old.  At this point, Jim is 20-30 years old.  Within a few years, his wife Jane and his son appear to have died. I’ve found no death or cemetery records for Jane or the son. Then Jim and others in the family leave Virginia to settle in Owen County, Indiana sometime in the 1830s. 

In Owen County, Indiana, Jim met Jane Carter and they marry in 1837.  Nancy Jane Carter was born 10 Mar 1813 in Virginia. (I'm guessing that she ties into all the other Carters in the family.)  The 1840 census lists him as 30-40 years old, with his wife who is 20-30 years old, and a daughter under five years old.  By the time of the 1850 census, Jim’s family had grown with children Susa, William, Luke and Isaac N.  Janey’s mother, Sucky Carter also is living with them.  (Sookie, Suky is a nickname for Susan or Susanna.)

Now is when the Turpins begin to drift out of Owen County.  Newt Turpin goes to McLean County, Illinois and then on to Iowa.  Newt is in Greene County, Iowa in 1860 but Jim is not.  He isn’t on a census in 1860 (that I can find).  It’s said that around 1864 Jim and Janie moved from Indiana to Iowa, then to Arkansas in about 1869.  Three years later they returned to Rippey in Greene County, Iowa. However, Jim is listed in Greene County, Iowa in the 1870 census.  It seems the estimated years of James’ travels may be off by a few years but the details of where he went are probably accurate.  

Jim stayed in Greene County the rest of his life.  He and Janey added Henry, Samuel, George, and John to their family.   Jim died 6 Dec 1886  and Janey died 23 May 1910.  Both are buried in Greene County, Iowa.  Janey’s tombstone has her name engraved as Nancy J. Turpen.

Will Turpen in "Families of Rippey"

Will Turpen was the son of James Turpen and Janey (Nancy Jane) Carter, born in Virginia in 1790 and 1813 respectively.  He married the Louise Anne Turpin, the daughter of Robert Newton Turpin, referred to in this articles as "Uncle Nate". 

“Families of Rippey", 1990 reprint of the 1956 "History of Rippey”

Families of Rippey, published in 1956, pg. 107:

William Turpen was born January 20, 1844, in a log cabin in Owen County, near Spencer, Indiana, and died May 18, 1923, at his home near Rippey, Iowa. At the age of 20 he became possessed of he spirit of Greeley, "Go West, young man, go West". So he left Indiana by rail and made the trip as far as Keokuk, then traveled by stage coach to Des Moines. He started to make the rest of the way to Greene County on foot when he was overtaken by a stranger who kindly asked him to take a ride. This man proved to be "Uncle" Sammy Rhoad who was on his way from Des Moines, the nearest trading post at that time.

The first year in Greene County, William made his home with his uncle, Nate Turpen. His parents and brothers came to Washington Township the following year. With the exception of one year spent in Arkansas, Washington Township was always his home.

On March 10, 1869, he was united in marriage to Anna Turpen. To this union were born five children: James, Mary, Susie, Kate and Carrie. James died in infancy and Mary Turpen Thornley died November 24, 1895, one year after her marriage to Frank Thornley.

Susie married John Underwood and to this union were born two children, Walter and Bessie. Walter married Bertha Marks and they had two children, Beryl and Ruby. Beryl married Betty Willenen and their four children are Gari, Gretta, Linda and Billy. Ruby married Ronald Marshall and had one son, Rodney. She afterwards married Paul Metzler. (Rodney went by the Metzler name)

Bessie Underwood married Lew Martin of Rippey and now lives on the original Wm. Turpen farm 3 miles west of Rippey and is the third generation of Turpens to live on this farm. Their son, Dale Lewis Martin, gave his life in the service of his country in the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. Kate Turpen never married and is now deceased.

Carrie Turpen married Orrie Thornburg of Rippey and they had six children; Mildred, Glen, Catherine, Raymond, Wilbur and Delmer. Glen married Reva Percell and they live in Dawson, Iowa. Catherine married Frank Cannon and they with their children, Francis and Virgene, live in Perry, Iowa. Raymond married Dorothy Alexander and they have no children. Wilber lost his life in Italy during the Second World War.

At his death Mr. Turpen owned 260 acres of well improved Washington Township land. Mr. Turpen paid for the first 80 acres of land he purchased by trapping prairie chickens and shipping them to the Chicago market. 

On July 2, 1925, Delmer Thornburg was drowned in the Raccoon River while in swimming with other boys. This tragedy took place in the Pleasant Hill vicinity near where the family lived at that time.

James Turpen Family

In previous posts, I have mentioned another Turpin who seemed to migrate with my great great grandfather John Turpin.  John and James are in Halifax County, Virginia and Owen County, Indiana.  After John died, John’s son Robert Newton “Newt” Turpin and James move to Greene County, Iowa. This family used an “e” instead of an “I” in their surname frequently.  

Here is an outline of what I’ve learned about James’ family.   

James TURPEN

Born:   6 April 1790   in Virginia

Marr:   2 Feb 1837    

Died:   6 Dec 1886  

Bur:     Greene Co., IA 

married

Nancy Jane CARTER (known as Janey)

Born:   10 Mar 1813, in Virginia

Died:   23 May 1910   Greene County, IA 

Bur:     Greene Co., IA 

Their children:

1. Susa TURPEN, born about 1838 IN

2. William TURPEN, born 1844 IN and married Newt's daughter Louise Ann Turpin

3. Luke born 1848 IN and married Emily Babb 

4. Isaac Newton TURPEN, born about 1848 in IN.  Followed Turpins to Nebraska

5. Henry Watson TURPEN, born about 1852 IN married Emily Marie "Emma" Bennett

6. Samuel Allan TURPEN, born Mar 1853 IN, married Lydia Jane Thornton

7. George Washington TURPEN, born 26 Dec 1856 IN, married Mabel Davis 

8  John TURPEN

James and Janey are supposedly buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, however Find-a-Grave does not list them.  I may need to revisit that topic to see if I can locate them.  

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.

The Carters

I'll talk more later on about Jim Turpen and John Turpin who always lived nearby each other, and about the Carters.   But cousin Julie G. brought up a good topic today:

Out of curiosity do you have RN Turpin's mother as Elizabeth Carter??? His father as John.

I find the Carter part hard to believe considering the 1850 census in Clay, Owen, Indiana.