VICTOR NOIR TURPIN (9 MAR 1873-23 MAR 1927)

The following information about Victor Noir Turpin, a son of Thomas James Turpin and Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin, was gathered and assembled by me, a great grand niece, over a period of time from 2006 through this 21st day of January 2010. As more records and newspapers are scanned and become available on the Internet, this information can be expanded.

The information was gathered from www.genealogybank.com; www.archive.org; www.footnote.com; www.ancestry.com; www.worldvitalrecords.com; www.findagrave.com; the Carl Julian Turpin collection at the Western History Library at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma; a copy of a letter from my paternal grandfather to his sister in which he refers to Victor‘s widow, Margaret; and information from the Turpin Family Tree compiled by paternal great aunt. Thanks to my father, a great nephew of Victor Noir Turpin, for his continuing interest in this project, and for providing copies of the picture from which the above image was cropped and the letter from Milton Ashby Turpin to Ella Turpin Person.

Rather than presenting the information in a narrative form, it is presented for your consideration in a chronological order.

Excerpt of letter from Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin to her son Austin Caleb Turpin, dated 19 Sep 1888, Quantico (Maryland).

“Victor too has been at work. You never saw a boy grow as fast as he does. He is constituted just like Willie (William Upshur Turpin, a brother of Victor‘s). His lips give him much trouble, is now taking Forbes Solution.””

* * * * *

Fort Worth Mail-Telegram 28 Jul 1902

“Victor N. Turpin Has Gone to Wed.

“Victor N. Turpin, city passenger and ticket agent for the Rock Island lines left Saturday night for Coldwater, Mich., where he will wed Miss Paddock. Mr. Turpin and bride will return to Fort Worth Sunday next.”

* * * *

The Dallas Morning News, 05 Jul 1905

“Died in Michigan. Special to the News.

Fort Worth, Tex., July 4 -- News has been received here of the death of Mrs. V. N. Turpin, the wife of the city ticket agent of the Rock Island lines, at Coldwater, Mich., last night. Mrs. Turpin had been ill for some time and was taken to Coldwater, her old home, for a surgical operation. Mr. Turpin left this morning for that point to attend the funeral.”

* * * *
The Fort Worth Telegram 06 Jul 1905

“Mrs. Turpin Dies

Victor N. Turpin, city ticket agent of the Rock Island railroad, received a message Tuesday stating that his wife had died at Coldwater, Mich. He left for Coldwater immediately. Mrs. Turpin left Fort Worth about two weeks ago for her Michigan home to undergo an operation. She died at the home of her parents."

The first wife of Victor Noir Turpin, Lola Silence Paddock, was the daughter of Bryan D. and Harriet Paddock of Branch County, Michigan. She graduated from Coldwater High School, Coldwater, Michigan, in 1889. She attended the University of Michigan for two years, transferring to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1892. Lola is listed as the founder of Nebraska Lambda-Pi at the University of Nebraska in “A Paragraph History of Sigma Alpha Epsilon from the Founding of the Fraternity to the Present time” by William C. Levere (1916) and available at www.archive.org. According to Arthur J. Tuttle with the Michigan Iota-Beta, Lola‘s initials “LP” were chosen thus Lambda-Pi. (Page 72 of previously cited publication.) Lola was a teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska beginning in 1894 through to her marriage to Victor in July, 1902. Her name appears frequently in two Lincoln newspapers from that time period.

It was in Lincoln, Nebraska that 30 year old Lola met 26 year old Victor Noir Turpin as evidenced by the following article:

Nebraska State Journal, 19 Feb 1899

“Society

Friday evening Miss Lola Paddock entertained her friends at the home of Mrs. Ed Green, 1336 R street. Progressive euchre* furnished the entertainment. The royal prize, a water color, was won by Mr. Turpin. The booby prize, a box of chocolates, by Miss Wirt. The guests were Professor and Mrs. Fling, Mr. and Mrs. Will Green, Misses Wirt, Morgan, Clark, Deweese, Hammond, Hoover, Graham, Getner, Macfarland, Kirker, Douglas; Messrs. Whitmore, Turpin, Pancoast, Whipple, Mattson, Haggard, Paine, Marlay, Sheldon, Davidson, Clark, Kennard.”

*According to www.ehow.com, Progressive Euchre is a fast-paced card game played mainly by four people, broken down into two teams of two. Progressive euchre is a way of playing the game with multiple tables of players in a tournament. It is played with A-K-Q-J-10-9 of the four suits. With four players, five cards are dealt. After bidding to make the trick, trump is named and one team has to win at least three of five tricks, while the opponent team tries to stop them. After each round, partners change.

An additional two sources show Victor being in Lincoln, Nebraska at the same time. I finally located Victor in the 1900 US Census. He is living in Lincoln, Nebraska, listed on the census as “Viola N. Turpin, female!” The birthday is the same and when scrolling over for the occupation, “stenographer” is shown. He is living at a boarding house and there are two other people boarding there that work for the railroad. I think there must have been an error in the census. The Hoyes 1899 and 1900 Directory for Lincoln, Nebraska, shows “Turpin, Victor N., Opr. C., R.I.&P. Ry. 20th cor. O, rms 231, s. 15th.“ This is the same address where “Viola N. Turpin” is living on the 1900 US Census. (I read an article in a genealogy magazine that cautioned that the U.S. Census reports can have errors. It is depends on the individual gathering the information and putting it on forms. Or perhaps it was just the Turpin sense of humor shining through!) In any event, I am certain this is Victor. I have been searching for him in 1900 for some time. Finally, I clicked on Viola because everything else matched: the initials V. N. Turpin, the birthplaces of the parents, and the month and year of birth. Viola is Victor.

* * * * *
Dallas Morning-News, 7 Aug 1907

"Turpin-Loving Wedding

Special to the News.

Fort Worth, Tex., Aug. 6 - V. N. Turpin, city passenger and ticket agent for the Rock Island and Mrs. Margaret Loving were married at the home of the bride, 1523 Cooper Street, at 8 o'clock this morning by Rev. B. B. Ramage. A. C. Turpin and wife of Toronto, Canada, and C. J. Turpin and wife of Springfield, Mo., brothers of the groom were present. After a wedding breakfast was served the bride and groom left for a trip to Salt Lake City. They will be at home at 1523 Cooper street to their friends after Sept. 1."

* * * *
Dallas Morning News, 11 Aug 1907

Fort Worth Society

“Turpin-Loving Wedding; Marriage Ceremony is read by Rev. B. B. Ramage at the Home of the Bride

Mrs. Margaret Loving and V. N. Turpin were married Wednesday morning at the home of the bride, 1523 Cooper street, Rev. B. B. Ramage officiating. Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Turpin of Toronto and Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Turpin of Springfield, Mo., were present and a few other relatives. After an elaborate wedding breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Turpin left for a trip to Salt Lake City. They will be at home to their friends, 1523 Cooper Street, after Sept. 1.”

Dallas Morning News 29 Sep 1909

“Fort Worth Railway Notes - Special to the News

Fort Worth, Tex., Sept. 28

. . .C. J. Turpin, agent for the Rock Island at Clinton, Ok., is in the city on account of the serious illness of his brother, Vic Turpin, city ticket agent of the same road at this place. Mr. Turpin is reported slightly improved."

* * * * *
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 04 Jul 1911

“Child Burned to Death by Explosion of Oil

Heat Causes Kerosene to Ignite, Catching Clothing of Margaret Turpin

A can of kerosene exploding from the heat of the sun was responsible for the death of little Margaret Turpin, the 12 year old daughter of V. N. Turpin, city ticket and passenger agent of the Rock Island railroad, Monday evening. The child was playing on the back porch of the family residence, 1523 Cooper street, when the can exploded, enveloping her in a mass of flames. Her mother, standing in the kitchen, saw the child just after her clothing caught fire, but the porch having also caught could not reach her for intervening flames. With rare presence of mind she ran through the house and around to the rear. The child, her clothing still blazing, ran into her mother's arm, sobbing and almost unconscious. The mother extinguished the flames.

A physician was called at once, but there was no chance for the child to recover, and three hours later she died in terrible pain. There was no portion of the little girl's body that was not burned.

For a time the house was threatened by fire, but a negro woman employed at the Turpin residence extinguished it.

The funeral was conducted Tuesday afternoon from the First Congregational Church, Rev. George W. Ray officiating. Interment was made in Oakwood."

* * * * *
I do not believe the child, Margaret Loving Turpin, was the natural born daughter of Victor. According to her death certificate available on footnote.com, Margaret, the child, was born in 1901 in Texas. Victor and Margaret Loving the elder did not marry until 1907. On the death certificate for Margaret Loving Turpin, the widow of Victor Noir Turpin, it states that her father’s name was Owen Gibbs. Her mother’s name was given simply as “D.K.” (don’t know) A genealogical mystery surrounds Margaret Loving Turpin, the elder. I believe Margaret Loving Turpin was married previously and had a daughter, Margaret Loving, by her first marriage.


Fort Worth Star-Telegraph 28 Apr 1916

“Gypsies Go Shopping for a "Place to Go" by Order of Police

This sounds like an old vaudeville gag, but it is certified and sworn to: "What stations have you?" inquired the chief of a party of foreigners who called at the Rock Island ticket office yesterday. "What size station do you want?" inquired V. N. Turpin, city ticket agent. "We want gude size ceety -- beeg place, beeg as Fort Wort," the chief said. Whereupon, Turpin told them all about Oklahoma City, Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City, giving an industrial review of each. The chief wanted to know which city had the most restaurants, hotels and candy kitchens in it. They also wanted to know which city "cost the most." Turpin recommended Kansas City. The men were Gypsy leaders, who have been in Fort Worth with their families, totaling twenty-seven people, for three weeks. They are to leave Fort Worth Monday - moving on police orders. The Gypsies cannot get along with Fort Worth people, they say. They have tried three neighborhoods, but at each place the neighbors complained. They are now at Arizona and Henrietta streets. The men are coppersmiths and want to go to a place where there is the most of this work available."

* * * *

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 22 Apr 1915

“Accused of Fan Theft

An electrician was arrested Thursday by detectives and charged with theft in connection with a fan alleged to have been stolen from V. N. Turpin, city ticket agent of the Rock Island. Turpin sent the electrician to his home to repair the fan. He took it away from home and never returned it, it is said. Questioned Thursday morning, he said he had given the fan to a boy to be delivered at Turpin's home."

* * * *

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Dec 1916

“V. N. Turpin, city passenger agent of the Rock Island, will see one of his brothers for the first time in nineteen years when he reaches Chicago Sunday morning to attend a family reunion. He left Friday night, accompanied by Mrs. Turpin. The reunion will be held at the home of his brother, A. C. Turpin, ticket agent at the LaSalle Street station of the Rock Island in Chicago.”

* * * *

Victor Noir Turpin: Described as tall with brown eyes and light brown hair on WWI Draft registration card, 1918. Has false teeth.

* * * * *

In 1921 Victor N. Turpin was listed as City Passenger Agent working at 116 Ninth Street, Fort Worth, TX in the back of a publication entitled “Colorado: Under the Turquoise Sky.” The publication was put out by the Rock Island Railroad.

* * * * *

Dallas Morning News, 25 Mar 1927

“Railroad Man Had Premonition of Death

Fort Worth, Texas, March 24 (Sp) -- Funeral services for Victor N. Turpin, 53, city ticket agent for the Rock Island lines, who died at his home, 812 West Magnolia Avenue, Wednesday, will be held Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock at the First Congregational Church.

Mr. Turpin had been connected with the Rock Island since 1891. Death was due to heart failure. According to Mrs. Turpin, her husband had a premonition of his death and only a few days ago instructed her as to what to do in case he died suddenly.

He is survived by his wife, three brothers, Carl J. Turpin of Oklahoma City, Austin Turpin of Detroit and Ashburn (sic) Turpin of Winfield, Kan.”

* * * * *

From the papers of Carl Julian Turpin housed in the Western History Collection at the library at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.

American Railway Express Company
Office of Traffic Manager
46-48 Trinity Place
New York

April 30, 1927

Mr. C. J. Turpin,
Vice President and General Manager
Beaver, Meade & Englewood Railroad Co.,
Oklahoma City, Okla.

Dear Mr. Turpin:

Absence from the city has prevented earlier acknowledgement of your note of April 22nd.

The package referred to has also been received and I appreciate your kindness as well as that of Mrs. V. N. Turpin.

Mrs. Lee or her sister will, no doubt, write Mrs. Turpin.

I was quite shocked to learn of Victor's death. While we have not seen a great deal of him during the past few years, I always made it a point to see him when going through Fort Worth, and I recall that he was out to our house for dinner some two or three years ago. He was a very likeable chap and I know will be missed by his many friends.

Yours very truly,
George S. Lee,
Traffic Manager

* * * *
Excerpt from letter from Milton Ashby Turpin to his sister Ella Turpin, dated 9 Dec 1929:

"Aunt Margaret is still in Fort Worth and has moved her house to some new lots and had it remodeled. Guess it is pretty well fixed by this time. She is still pretty sensitive about Victor yet. You know she gave me his watch and chain. Every time she sees it, a sadness comes over her. She was up here in Nov. when Uncle Austin was down this way."

One more posting for the 14th of January, 2010

For those of you who enjoy genealogy research, take a look at GenSmarts. This is a great software program that analyzes the family tree software you have on your computer. I recently purchased a copy of it and I am so pleased with it. For me, it was easy to install and I watched the hour long tutorial about how to use it. The software analyzes your files, and then lines up the problems it sees -- missing data, sources, etc. You choose if you want to pursue that avenue. It has on-line capabilities. To the right side is a link one can click if further online research is required for that particular person. If you have a membership in Ancestry.com, Footnote, World Vital Records -- any of these subscription programs -- the GenSmart software will take you directly to your research objective. It is not always a direct hit, but I have had success. It works with numerous genealogy software programs. Happy researching. Bleu

Quotations pertinent to Time and Family History

In her excellent book, Four Souls, Louise Erdich writes:

"Time is the water in which we live, and we breathe it like fish.

time is an element no human has mastered . . .

For what is a man, what are we all, but bits of time caught

for a moment in a tangle of blood, bones, skin and brain."

and in David Ray's luminous poem, Thanks, Robert Frost, he quotes the poet as follows in answer to the question "Do you have hope for the future?"

"Yes, and even for the past, he [Frost] replied,

that it will turn out to have been all right for what it was,

something we can accept,

mistakes made by the selves we had to be,

not able to be, perhaps, what we wished,

or what looking back half the time

it seems we could so easily have been, or ought..."

* * * * *

We are all simply moments caught in the time in which we were born. And life does go on and, yes, it does end. Family history, though, gives one a sense of continuity.

Ashby Turpin: A Brief Timeline of a Life

Meet my paternal great grandfather, Ashby Turpin. From left to right are pictures of Ashby from 1891, 1900, 1936, and 1939. He is buried at Highland Cemetery, Winfield, Cowley County, KS.

What follows is a brief timeline of his life. More will be written about him later. Always a mysterious man, one of his grandsons made him sound like possibly the meanest man who ever lived. I never got to meet Ashby, but I did get to visit his wife, my paternal great grandmother, Mary Virginia Sparks Turpin, before her death in 1965. In researching my paternal great grandfather's life, I have come to understand Ashby a little bit better.

THE TIMELINE OF THE LIFE OF ASHBY TURPIN

　
BIRTH
22 Apr 1862. Born in Quantico, Somerset County, Maryland to Thomas James Turpin
And Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin.

1867 DEATH
Ashby’s older brother, Albion Farrington Turpin (b. 1860) dies at the age of 7.

1870 RESIDENCE
1870 US Census shows Ashby living with parents and siblings -- May Thomas, William Upshur, Austin Caleb and Zenophine -- in Quantico Maryland.

06 Nov 1879 DEATH
Ashby’s younger sister, Zenophine, dies at the age of 10. Ashby is 17.

11 Nov 1879 DEATH
Seventeen year old Ashby Turpin witnesses the shooting death of his uncle by marriage, William Farrington. William Farrington is married to Ashby's mother's sister, Zenophine Kennerly Farrington. Farrington is killed by Ashby’s uncle by blood, his father’s brother, John Wesley Turpin.

May 1880 EVENT
Eighteen year old Ashby Turpin testifies in favor of the prosecution in the State of Maryland v. John Wesley Turpin.

1891 EVENT
Ashby is in group picture with mother and siblings. Picture taken in Holton, KS.

24 Feb 1892 DEATH
Ashby’s younger brother, Walter Clifton Turpin (b. 1875) dies at age 16.

10 Jan 1900 MARRIAGE
Thirty-seven year old Ashby Turpin marries 19 year old Mary Virginia Sparks, a ward of Ashby’s older sister, May Thomas Turpin Moore, in Salisbury, Wicomico County, Maryland.

14 Jun 1900 RESIDENCE
US Census shows Ashby Turpin and his wife, Mary Virginia Sparks Turpin, living in Wahkonsa, Webster County, Iowa. Three boarders are living with them: L.M. Dean, E. J. Elliot, and William Hailey. Ashby’s occupation is difficult to read.

26 Nov 1900 BIRTH OF FIRST CHILD
Milton Ashby Turpin, son of Ashby and Mary Virginia Sparks Turpin, is born in Ft. Dodge, Webster County, IA. Ashby is 38 years old.

1905 RESIDENCE
1905 Kansas State Census shows Ashby Turpin, along with his wife, is living in Pleasant Valley, Cowley County, KS. Occupation: Farming. They have two children: Milton Ashby and Ella Leona.

16 Sep 1906 EVENT
Picture of Thomas James Turpin, Ashby’s father, taken at 101 Ranch, Bliss, Oklahoma. In an account of Ashby Turpin’s life, it is mentioned that Thomas James Turpin came west once to visit his son. (However, additional research has proven this to be incorrect. Thomas James Turpin came west ca 1850 when he was around 16 years old according to his 1906 obituary.)

30 Nov 1906 DEATH
Thomas James Turpin (b. 1834), father of Ashby Turpin, dies in Salisbury, Wicomico County, Maryland, at age 72. Ashby is 44.

1910 RESIDENCE
US Federal Census shows Ashby and family are living in Clinton, Custer County, OK. Children are Milton, Ella, Virginia May, Blanche Ethel, and Ruth Vivian.

12 Jun 1911 DEATH
Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin (b. 1836), mother of Ashby Turpin, dies in College Park, Prince George, Maryland, at age 74. Ashby is 48.

1915 RESIDENCE
Kansas State Census shows Ashby and family are living in Pleasant Valley, Cowley County, KS. Six children: Milton, Ella, Virginia, Blanche Ethel, Ruth, Ivan Roscoe and Vincent Vermillion.

1920 RESIDENCE
US Census shows Ashby and family are living and farming in Pleasant Valley, Cowley County, KS. There are 7 children: Milton, Ella, Virginia, Ruth, Ethel, Ruth, Ivan, Vincent, and Gertrude.

13 Jun 1922 DEATH
Ashby’s brother, William Upshur Turpin (b. 1863), dies at age 58 in Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa.

2 Jul 1922 MARRIAGE
Ashby’s oldest child, Milton Ashby Turpin, marries Pansy Beth Holt.

5 Apr 1923 BIRTH
Ashby’s first grandchild, Julia Ann Turpin, is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, OK, to Milton and Pansy Holt Turpin. Ashby is 61 years old.

11 Feb 1925 DEATH
Ashby’s older sister, May Thomas Turpin Moore (b. 1859), dies in Maryland at age 65.

23 Mar 1927 DEATH
Ashby’s youngest living brother, Victor Noir Turpin (b. 1873), dies in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, TX at age 54.

1930 RESIDENCE
The last US census that has been made public shows Ashby and family are living and farming in Pleasant Valley, Cowley County, KS. There are three children at home: Ivan, Vincent and Gertrude.

28 Feb 1939 DEATH
Ashby’s younger brother, Austin Caleb Turpin (b. 1865) dies in Detroit, Michigan at age 73.

20 Nov 1942 DEATH
Ashby’s younger brother, Carl Julian Turpin (b. 1871) dies in Oklahoma City, OK at age 71.

10 Dec 1944 DEATH
Ashby Turpin (b. 1859) dies at Winfield, Cowley County, KS, at the age of 82.

Fay Turpin, daughter of Austin Caleb Turpin and Iva Gertrude Lawry Turpin

A couple of years ago I discovered a gold mine in the form of a collection of letters and documents left by my great granduncle Carl Julian Turpin and his wife Frances Linton Turpin to the Western History Library, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. I discovered wonderful correspondence between great aunts and uncles and great great grandmothers and great great grand aunts whom I had never met. They wrote back and forth, however, about relatives whom I did have the opportunity to meet, although they were young children and young adults during the time period that these letters cover. These letters have enriched the living Turpin family immensely. Handwritten correspondence was frequent in the early part of the 1900s, the post being delivered twice a day. I am not sure what email and texting is going to leave behind for future family historians.

* * * * *

The beautiful young woman shown above is Fay Turpin, my first cousin twice removed. She born 09 Dec 1892 in Holton KS. She was the daughter of Austin Caleb Turpin and Gertrude Lawry Turpin. According to my paternal great aunt, Ella Turpin Person, Fay attended Chicago public schools and the Chicago Art Institute.

At one point during W.W.I, Fay was planning to marry a soldier. On 6 Jan 1918, Gertrude Lawry Turpin, Fay's mother, writes to Carl Julian Turpin's wife, Frances Linton Turpin:

"I think Austin said he wrote Carl of Fay's engagement to Burton Carnes and the gay time I had. Made 2 trips to Fort Riley in November. Austin and I stopped there the first of November and when Burton wrote that he could not get the furlough he expected as they were ordered to Texas, Fay decided to go to Fort Riley. Of course I had to be chaperone. We had supper with Burton in Manhattan (KS) Thanksgiving Day. We should have arrived in Manhattan at 3 p.m. but missed connections and had to drive from McFarland to Manhattan in a Ford, arriving there at 6 p.m. Burton's troop left the next day so we did not see much of him. . . . Fay announced her engagement Dec. 9. . . . I told Fay I would try to give her something for her hope box every payday (it will not be much while I am paying coal bills)."

(Source: Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

Gertrude writes to Frances again on 27 Oct 1918 the following: "Fay would be overjoyed to have you attend her wedding. The trouble is we do not know just when it will occur but think about the middle of the month. It will be a quiet affair."

(Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

On 22 Dec 1918 Gertrude writes to Frances: "Burton cannot get leave to come home Christmas. We are in hopes that means he will get his discharge immediately after. If not he says he will try and get leave to come and get Fay and then he will not care how long they keep him down there. I don't suppose Carl (Julian Turpin) ever goes to Little Rock (Arkansas). If he does tell him to look up Lieutenant Carnes of the Depot Brig. Burton would be glad to see him." (Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

Then on 18 Mar 1919, in a letter to Frances, Gertrude writes: "Fay has just started in a studio of her own and is therefore a little short of cash so I am going to make her dress as I want her to go to the dance. She broke her engagement with Burton about the 1st of February and she feels pretty badly. You know Fay does not do anything by halves. When she loved, she loved with all her heart. And when she found the object of her affections was not worthy of it she was all broke up. She and two other girls have a studio together. She went in with them the first week in February and she is doing real well. I think she will do better than when working for someone else as she can stop and rest whenever she pleases."

(Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

In 1919 Fay traveled to Toronto as told in this 22 Dec 1919 letter from Austin's wife to Carl Julian Turpin's wife, Frances: "Fay is going to take a little vacation and to go Toronto the day after Christmas and last Friday she rec'd a letter from Helene telling her to be sure & bring her party dress as they were having formal dances again with everybody in full evening dress." (Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

Fay verifies her trip in this letter she wrote to Carl Julian Turpin's wife Frances on 9 Jan 1920: "I suppose some other members of the family have told you that I took a little trip to Canada after Christmas. I didn't have one minute to write up there and mighty few since I came home." (Carl Julian Turpin collection, Western History Library, University of Oklahoma)

In the 1920 US census, Fay is living with her parents in Chicago and working as a commercial artist. She illustrated for children's books. One of the books she illustrated was Little Sally Dutcher by Beth Proctor. First printing was 1924 by the Albert Whitman Company in Chicago.
(A copy of that illustration appears above. It was scanned from an actual book in my possession.)

On 5 Apr 1926 Fay married William Jabine. They took their honeymoon in Hamilton, Bermuda as reflected by the passenger list for the liner, Fort Victoria.

William was born in Yonkers NY on 8 Jan 1886. His parents' names were Theodore and Florence Jabine. (1910 census) I believe William met Fay when he moved to Chicago, IL to take the position as editor of a Chicago newspaper. In the 1920 census, he is lodging with the Fox family in Chicago. When he was living in New York City, he was a reporter for a newspaper there. (1910 US census) Austin Caleb Turpin and his family were also living in Chicago according to the 1920 US census.

Ella Turpin Person's notes show that Fay separated two years later from Mr. Jabine. In 1928 Fay set up her own artist's studio at 321 East 43rd Street in New York City. (Source: Ella Turpin Person) The 1930 US census shows Fay living in Manhattan and working as a studio artist.

Fay was Episcopalian and attended a little church around the corner from where she lived called Church of the Transfiguration. (Source: Ella Turpin Person.)

In 1931 Fay took a trip on the Empress of Britain. She departed 3 Dec 1931 and returned 8 Apr 1932. The passenger list shows her living at 6 Prospect Place, NYC.

Fay Turpin Jabine passed away 02 June 1967. Her last address was New York City, NY. (Social Security Death Index.)

Carl Julian Turpin and Turpin, Oklahoma

My paternal great granduncle, Carl Julian Turpin, was a "railroad man." He, along with his wife Frances Jeannette Linton Turpin, traveled the world in the 1930s. Carl shook hands with President Calvin Coolidge.

I was around nine years old when my father told me that there was a town in the panhandle of Oklahoma named Turpin. Since my father was always teasing me, I did not believe him. "Call Mema. Ask her," he said. So I did and that is when I learned that, in fact, there was and still is a town in Beaver County, Oklahoma named Turpin.

Carl Julian Turpin was a son of Thomas James Turpin and Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin. He was born on 10 Aug 1871 in Quantico, Wicomico County, Maryland. He died 20 Nov 1942 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, OK.

Great granduncle Carl had a head for business and he was ambitious. He left the Eastern Shore of Maryland at an early age. Carl Julian Turpin became the general manager of the Beaver, Mead and Englewood Railroad (Source: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of History Places Inventory, Nomination Form for Turpin Grain Elevator, March 18, 1983) when, in 1918, two Hardtner, Kansas farmers, Jacob Achenbach and Ira B. Blackstock, requested his assistance. The Messrs. Achenbach and Blackstock had been asked by farmers in Beaver County, OK, and the surrounding areas to build a railroad through the Panhandle so that their wheat crops could be shipped to outlying markets. (Note the time period -- 1918 -- this was during World War I. Wheat prices were at an all time high -- $3.00 a bushel according to a 1918 Scribners magazine article -- and virgin land was being plowed up at a record rate. Only hindsight shows that this, in addition to a subsequent seemingly endless drought, was a contributing factor to Oklahoma's infamous Dust Bowl.) The farmers in the Oklahoma panhandle were no different from farmers other areas of the Great Plains. They too wanted in on the galloping wheat market.

Jacob Achenbach and Ira B. Blackstock knew how to build a railroad, but they needed someone to manage it. That is where Carl Julian Turpin came in. (Source: "Panhandlers," Time Magazine, July 13, 1931)

Carl J. Turpin had ample experience as a railroad man, his career beginning in 1888. (Source: "Carl J. Turpin, Savings and Loan Official Here, Is Dead," The Daily Oklahoman, November 20, 1942.)

Described as a "by the book" type of general manager, Carl Julian Turpin was a stern, well groomed man. (Source: Hofsommer, Donovan L., Katy Northwest: The Story of a Branch Line Railroad, page 190, [Pruett Publishing Company, boulder, CO, 975; reprinted by Indiana University Press, 1999.]) He worked without salary, but did receive stock in the line, from 1918 until 1926. The terminus where a seven mile right-of-way joined an additional twenty miles of rail was called "Turpin."

At its height, the Beaver, Mead and Englewood Railroad ran from Beaver, Oklahoma, to Eva, Oklahoma, with an extension and connection to the Santa Fe Railroad in Keyes, Oklahoma. The line connected with the Katy at Forgan, Oklahoma, and the Rock Island at Hooker, Oklahoma. The BM&E was eventually sold to M-K-T (Katy) Railroad Company in 1931 for $2,100,000 . . . a profit of about $2,000 a mile. (Source: "Panhandlers," Time Magazine, July 13, 1931)

In an interview with the Daily Oklahoman on March 7, 1931, Carl Julian Turpin said, "When I was a kid 2years old, but married, I used to want to work for a railroad which paid $50 a month and furnished its agents a two-story house on the line, rent, brooms, and matches free. Maybe I still could find something like that."

(Source: "Faith in Oklahoma Reaps Rich Rewards," The Daily Oklahoman, March 7, 1931)

(Note from Bleu: I contributed a version of the above blog to the entry for "Turpin, Oklahoma," in Wikipedia.)

IDENTIFYING AN 1891 TURPIN FAMILY PICTURE

The family of Thomas James Turpin and Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin identified as of 07 Jan 2010:


Seated, left to right: Carl Julian Turpin, Frances Linton Turpin, Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin holding Paul Lawry Turpin, son of Austin Caleb Turpin and Iva Gertrude Lawry Turpin, Ashby Turpin.


Standing, left to right: Austin Caleb Turpin, Gertrude Lawry Turpin, Victor Noir Turpin, Henrietta Elledge Turpin, William Upshur Turpin

* * * * *

In 1996, CLT, a paternal grandson of Ashby Turpin and a great grandson of Ellmandia M. Kennerly Turpin and Thomas James Turpin, mailed copies of the above picture to known relatives of his generation, asking if anyone had information on the identification of the people in the picture. In his 1996 query, CLT indicated that the front row of people had been identified. The story is that the above picture was taken on the wedding day of Carl J. Turpin and Frances J. Linton in Holton or Concordia KS in December 1891. CLT is my father. He gave me a copy of the picture and also copies of the information he had gathered from Ella Turpin Person, his paternal aunt and a younger sister of CLT’s father, Milton Ashby Turpin.

After studying census reports and information gathered from the letters of Carl Julian Turpin and Frances Linton Turpin housed at the Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, I am adding the following information for reasons to identify the back row in the above picture as they are identified this 7th day of January 2010. By using birth and death dates, my father did an excellent job of eliminating the obvious people, such as Albion Farrington Turpin who died in 1867 and Zenophine Turpin who passed away in 1879. Both Albion and Zenophine were children of Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin and Thomas James Turpin.

Who is the tall young man in the middle of the back row? The two youngest children of Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin and Thomas James Turpin were Victor Noir Turpin (1873-1927) and Walter Clifton Turpin (1875-1892) referred to as “Clif” in an 1888 letter from Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin to her son Austin Caleb Turpin.


On Victor’s 12 Sep 1918 WWI draft card, he is listed as “tall.” Victor would have been 18 in 1891. His younger brother Walter Clifton Turpin would have been 16. “Clif” could have still been in school. The 1 Mar 1895 Kansas State Census shows Victor living with his brother, Austin, and Austin’s wife, (Iva) Gertrude Lawry Turpin and their 4 year old son Paul and 2 year old daughter, Fay, in Holton, Jackson County, KS. It is a safe assumption that the tall young man in the middle of the back row is Victor Noir Turpin.



Who are the people standing to the left of Victor and behind Carl J. Turpin and Frances J. Linton Turpin? I am identifying these people as Austin Caleb Turpin and his wife (Iva) Gertrude Lawry.


Austin Caleb Turpin and (Iva) Gertrude Lawry Turpin were in frequent touch with Carl J. Turpin and Frances J. Linton Turpin. Gertrude and Frances were Kansas girls. They all remained close throughout their lives as evidenced by the bulk of the exchange of letters between the wives of Austin and Frances.


Look at the body language and study the faces of the people in the picture on the front page of this document. Instead of being posed in a room with a fake background, imagine this same group posed in a small boat on a lake. The boat would be listing to the left. There is a definite space between Ashby and his mother Ellmandia.


(Remember Ashby was involved in the homicide trial of Ellmandia’s older sister, Zenophine’s husband William Farrington by John Wesley Turpin, an uncle of Ashby’s through his father Thomas. Ashby’s parents, Ellmandia and Thomas, were first cousins through their mothers, Zipporah Goslee Turpin and Julia Anne Goslee Kennerly, who were sisters. Ashby left Quantico, Wicomico County, MD, shortly after the trial and went west. I can only imagine the emotions involved in that situation. To Ashby’s credit though, Ellmandia’s sister Zenophine never blamed Ashby even though during the trial, the defense alleged that if Ashby had not intervened by trying to knock the gun out of John Wesley Turpin’s hand, the gun would not have misfired. Ashby worked for William Farrington on his large plantation, Gethsemane, which had been in the Kennerly family for years. In her last will and testament, Zenophine willed to Ashby a crayon drawing of her late husband. Zenophine attended the wedding of Ashby and Mary Virginia Sparks in January 1900. In fact Zenophine died on their wedding day, after the festivities were over and Ashby and Mamie (Mary Virginia) had hopped a train for Iowa.) (Source: Salisbury Advertiser, Salisbury, MD., Saturday, January 13, 1900, front page.)

Something also to keep in mind is that Thomas James Turpin, the father of the Turpins pictured in this family grouping and the husband of Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin, their mother, had already ventured west once around 1850, when he was 16, traveling as far as the vicinity of St. Joseph, MO, as revealed in Thomas’s obituary published in the Baltimore American on 02 Dec 1906. So, Thomas’s sons heard stories about his time in the West, coupled with the whole nation’s surge toward the West during the second half of the 19th century.



There is also space between Victor and the lady to his right. William Upshur Turpin, another sibling, and his wife, Henrietta Elledge Turpin, I believe, are the couple standing in back of Ashby Turpin. The woman has her left hand on Ashby’s right shoulder and her right hand appears to be on the back of Ellmandia’s chair.



However, this woman could also be May Thomas Turpin, the eldest child of Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin and Thomas James Turpin. May, though, had married in April, 1888, Thomas B. Moore, a man thirty-six years her senior. In September, 1892, May gave birth to her and Thomas B. Moore’s only child, Emma Gertrude Moore, who passed away in her twenty-first year of life. While it is documented that May and her daughter, Emma, did travel west once in 1903 to visit her brother Victor and his first wife, Lola Silence Paddock Turpin, in Fort Worth, TX, (source: Fort Worth Star Telegram, 05 Jul 1903), May was also a school teacher in Quantico and Salisbury, MD. Another thing to consider in May’s favor is that she probably would have wanted to be at her brother’s wedding, accompanying her mother west.



I am leaning on the side of Henrietta Elledge Turpin, though, because she and William Upshur Turpin were in Iowa and it has been established all the men in this generation of the Turpin family worked for the railroads, except for Ashby. I get the impression, after reading letters from the Carl J. Turpin collection, that these families traveled frequently by train visiting each other. Henrietta Elledge and William Upshur Turpin married in 1887 in Hiatsville, KS, four years before this picture was taken. By 1890, the couple had moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa. Different census reports show William working for the Rock Island Railroad in various positions and his niece, Ella Turpin Person, wrote that, in 1896, William was also an executive with the Lehigh Sewer and Pipe Company. When Ashby Turpin and Mary Virginia Sparks Turpin married in 1900, they left for Fort Dodge, Iowa, on their wedding day, where William and Henrietta were living. Ashby and Mamie didn’t go to Malden, Massachusetts, which is where Austin and (Iva) Gertrude Lawry Turpin were living at the time of the 1900 US census, nor did they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, where Victor Noir Turpin was living at that same time. They didn’t travel to be with Carl Julian Turpin and Frances Linton Turpin in Winfield, KS. Ashby and Mamie went to Fort Dodge, Iowa where William Upshur Turpin and Henrietta Elledge Turpin lived. That is where Ashby and Mamie’s first child, Milton Ashby Turpin, was born in November 1900. There might have been a closeness between Ashby and William since there was only 18 months’ difference in their ages. And this is a big assumption, but from reading the following excerpts that are included in this document, Henrietta apparently had trouble getting along with the youngest brothers and she perhaps felt closer to Ashby, hence the hand on the shoulder.　
　
Consider the following:



In an excerpt from a letter dated 19 Sep 1888 from Ellmandia Kennerly Turpin to her son Austin Caleb Turpin, Ellmandia writes the following about the relationship between Carl Julian Turpin and his brother William Upshur Turpin‘s wife, Henrietta Elledge Turpin:


"Carl does not seem to like Ettie. He has told me lotts [sic] but I always tell him never to notice anything or never to speak in any way unkindly. He said in his last (letter) she charged him 20 cents for sewing up a little slit in his shirt sleeve and again 10 cents for 2 buttons on. That is unkind. I do comment on her to him but say to him well never mind, he will soon be able to go somewhere else if he likes and this must stimulate him to study the harder. Ashby thinks it terrible Carl pays board. I do not yet there are things Willie could change privately if he wished."

Carl is known to have been in the west by 1889 as witnessed by a picture he had taken of himself in Thompson, Nebraska, in 1889. He apparently was living with William and Henrietta and going to school because Ellmandia says in the above excerpt that perhaps Carl’s dislike of Henrietta will encourage him to study harder so that he can eventually leave their house. 　

* * * * *

And then much later, in an excerpt from a letter dated 20 Jan 1919 from (Iva) Gertrude Lawry Turpin to Frances Linton Turpin:

"I have just written to Will (William Upshur Turpin, an older brother of Austin Caleb Turpin). Ettie’s illness troubles me dreadfully. I cannot realize Ettie’s mind gone. Her mind always seemed the strongest part of her. Will says in his letter today that the Dr. in Des Moines has hopes of her recovery. The Fort Dodge Dr. had no hope. Upshur (the son of William Upshur Turpin and Henrietta Elledge Turpin) went through here (Chicago) last week on his way to see his Mother."

* * * * *

Excerpt from a letter dated 11 Feb 1919 from Iva Gertrude Lawry Turpin, wife of Austin Caleb Turpin, to Frances Linton Turpin, the wife of Carl Julian Turpin:

"Curt Ellidge [sic] (Ettie‘s brother) [Note: Ettie is Henrietta Elledge Turpin, the wife of William Upshur Turpin. William is the brother of Austin Caleb Turpin. data] came up for the funeral. He arrived Monday and returned Thu. Evening. We went over Tue. Night. When we got up Wed. morning, we found that Upshur had the berth across the isle [sic] from us. The flowers were beautiful at the funeral; there were between 3 and 4 hundred dollars worth. Ettie did not look natural at all. I would never have known it was Ettie. She was quite a bit thiner [sic]. Will (William Upshur Turpin, brother of Austin Caleb Turpin) lookes [sic] very bad. 　
　
He is thin and his color is very bad. I suppose he has written you that he and Up are in Hot Springs. Nettie said Will’s stomach has been very bad for several months. While Ettie was ill it was a great worry to her. She did not regain her mind before she died.
Upshur is looking fine. I am quite in love with him. I did not like him as a little boy at all, but I like him better every time I see him since he is grown. Will is thinking of having Sister (Note: Sister is May Thomas Turpin Moore, the older sister of William Upshur, Austin Caleb, Ashby, and Victor Noir Turpin. data) come out and live with him. He says if she is not able to do the work, he will hire a housekeeper."

* * * * *

And finally in an excerpt from a letter dated 11 Feb 1919 from Iva Gertrude Lawry Turpin to Frances Linton Turpin, the wife of Carl Julian Turpin, she mentions that she and Austin had hoped to see Carl and Frances in Iowa the week before, indicating that Carl and Frances did not go to the funeral of Henrietta Elledge Turpin:

9506 Longwood Drive
Feb. 11, 1919

Dear Frances,
We rather expected to see you and Carl at Fort Dodge last week. The girls told me to be sure and bring you both home with us.
　

* * * * *

Note from Bleu:

Some might say that in the end, it doesn’t really matter if the people in this picture are ever identified, yet it does matter. These people were once alive, raising families, working, eating, and traveling the earth as we are now and we are connected to them. They were the family that came before us. Their family dynamics influenced our present day families’ dynamics. If, for no other reason, that is why knowing where one comes from is important -- to understand why things are the way they are now. It is also important to remember that when we are born influences who we are. The above generation of Turpin men were involved with railroads, mining, and farming. Their grandsons and great nephews were involved in the aeronautical industry. Timing is everything.