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William Turner - The Missing Family

William Turner was an interesting man. He has been featured in another blog post here, William Turner - Boiler Maker.

But my aunt Inie reminded me of a story that Freddy McGee told her. While Freddy was with his grandfather, James Turner, on the porch, a young man stopped by claiming to be James' brother. He said that their dad, William, told him of about James who was a successful farmer in Iowa. The visitor, also named Turner, was from Washington state. This would have been in the 1930s or so. None of James' siblings that I knew of would have been considered young at this time, and I knew that none of them lived in Washington. But Inie asked if William might have married again. So I checked.

What I found out was surprising, and a bit shocking, especially for 1882. That was the year that 53 year-old William married 28 year-old Martha Martin. She was a widow, maiden name Bush, having lost her husband a few years earlier. She had two daughters living with her mother-in-law, and two boys who ultimately took the last name of Turner, born in 1879 and 1880, named David Estess and Charles Eugene. In 1880 William was taking care of a 2-year old girl named Minnie Martin, who was another daughter of Martha.

Martha lived near the Iowa Boiler Works, which William owned. Martha lived at 212 Walnut Street, which was very near, maybe even above the Iowa Boiler Works, advertised to be "at the east end of Walnut Bridge".

The marriage didn't last. Martha, who also went by Mattie or Matilda, married Charles W. Knight, age 21, in 1884. 

David and Charles both claimed their father was William Turner in various records.  Their step father, Charles Knight was a farmer near Des Moines. Both David and Charles also farmed near there. But by 1935,  Charles had moved to Seattle, Washington.

With that last piece of information, Aunt Inie's story was confirmed. William's son Charles, from Washington, very well could have visited his half-brother, James Turner. James probably wouldn't have known him very well, if at all, since James was already in Crawford County when Charles was a young boy.

We will probably never know exactly what the relationship between Martha Martin and William Turner was like. But Martha had two of William's sons, before they were married.



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