TURNER lines are a difficult lot to sort out, since there seem to be so many different branches, and so many common names repeated. The VA origin of this TURNER family of Monroe County deserves a second look: WILLIAM TURNER (b. about 1788 VA--w.p. 1864 KY) m. FRANCES _____ (b. about 1789 VA--d. after 1864 KY) 1. Appears in 1820 Buckingham County VA Census under "William, So N"--family profile matches 1830 Monroe County, best match for "William Turner" in 1820 VA. 2. Appears in 1829 Monroe County KY Tax List. 3. Appears in 1830 Monroe County KY Census. 4. Appears in deed of gift as one of three original trustees of Bethlehem Methodist Church, Monroe County, 1840. Other family members named as charter members were: Jefferson Turner, Jane England. 5. Appears in 1840, 1850, 1860 Monroe County Censuses. (Joseph Turner, Charles, Richard, and Thomas Hood also appear in 1820 Buckingham and all subsequently reappear, along with George Hood, in 1830 Monroe County. These Hood and Turner families are known to have intermarried.) Since Buckingham is a burned county (1869), early public records have had to be reconstructed from other sources. The following selections have been published (full citations are available upon request): "1800 BUCKINGHAM Tax List: TURNER William John John James Nicholas Andrew, Jr. Andrew (estate)" ---------------- Selected from Land Tax Summaries & Implied Deeds (to 1814): "Turner, JOHN. 1800 to 1814. BOUGHT: 1800, 130 acres adjacent Blakeys Creek (9N) from Haynes. 1803, 100 acres adjacent Blakeys Creek (9N) from C. May, and 112 and 1/2 acres adjacent Blakeys Creek (9N) from James and Rane Staton. 1813/1814 LOCATION: residence on Blakeys Creek (9N) with land adjacent. Listed as "Captain" in 1810 and 1811. Turner, NICHOLAS. 1804 to 1814. BOUGHT: 1804, 50 acres from Rogers. 1806, 48 acres on Wreck Island Creek from John Horsley. 1809, 48 acres adjacent Wreck Island Creek from Joseph Horsley. 1813, 21 acres adjacent Wreck Island Creek (25W) from James Christian, in 1814, residence of his son, William (Turner). Turner, WILLIAM. 1786 to 1814. 1813/1814. LOCATION: residence near Gowan Hill (27W); in 1814, William Turner, son of Nicholas, residence adjacent Wreck Island Creek (25W)." -------------- Selected from Land Tax Summaries & Implied Deeds (to 1830): "Turner, JOHN Captain. 1815 to 1822. Estate, 1823 to 1840. BOUGHT: 1816, 20 acres on Blakeys Creek (9N) from estate of John Beazley. 1818, 75 acres from Thomas Winfrey. SOLD: 1821, 75 acres to Sarah S. Couch. 1823, 150 acres to Fleming Turner, Jr. 1835, 106 acres to John Chambers, sold by Caroline Chambers (or Couch). [Captain John apparently died about 1822.] Turner, NANCY. 1820-1839. BOUGHT: 1820, 26 acres on Wreck Island Creek (30W), her interest in James Beckham estate. [May be NANCY, the daughter of NICHOLAS TURNER, who married WILLIAM PHELPS.] Turner, NICHOLAS. 1815 to 1828. SOLD: 1818, 22 acres on Wreck Island Creek (25W) to James P. Rogers. [Nicholas appears to have died about 1828. His son, William, must have left for Kentucky soon after. "Est. of Nicholas Turner" appears in the 1830 census, which included a female 50-60 yrs old--presumably Nicholas' widow, along with 2 white males and 2 white females (20-30), and 3 female slaves.] Turner, WILLIAM. 1815 to 1827. Listed as Senior, 1826 and 1827. In 1816, owned 137 acres near Gowans Hill (27W); in 1817, adjacent Edward Gouldman (27W). SOLD: 1826, 135 acres on Boring Mill Branch (27W) to William Moore. Hood, HOBSON. 1815 to 1827. SOLD: 1826, 222 acres on Wreck Island Creek (30W) to Robert S. Gary. Hood, JOHN. 1815 to 1829. SOLD: 1829, THOMAS Hood and others sold 98 acres (24W) to Peter Doss. Hood, NATHANIEL. 1815 to 1832. Estate, 1833 to 1840. In 1828, listed as Nathaniel R. Hood. Location: In 1831 on Little Wreck Island Creek (29W)." ------------------ It seems highly likely that WILLIAM TURNER of Monroe County was the WILLIAM, son of NICHOLAS, who appears in 1820 Buckingham Census and tax and deed records there. NICHOLAS may have been the partial namesake for the second son of WILLIAM and FRANCES: WYATT N. TURNER. Perhaps "WYATT" and the name of their first son "JOHN A." may hold clues about other extended family members. ************************************************ Named in the Monroe County Will of WILLIAM TURNER, 1864: FRANCES [spouse] JOHN A. WYATT [N.] [JESSE] JEFFERSON LUCINDA [C.] JAMES M.O. ROBERT J. [also Executor] heirs of WILLIAM [T.] heirs of MARY A. ENGLAND ************************************************ One of NICHOLAS TURNER'S VA descendants states that NICHOLAS was married to JUDITH _____ (possibly PHELPS), and that they were members of Red Oak Baptist Church, in present-day Appomattox County, VA. JUDITH TURNER appears in 1850 Appomattox County Census, age 91. Burials at the church began more recently, so NICHOLAS and JUDITH are probably in a family cemetery somewhere, perhaps unmarked. He speculates that NICHOLAS may have been the son of ANDREW TURNER, who was in Buckingham County as early as 1787. The published tax and deed summaries, listed above, also show a WILLIAM TURNER in Buckingham County as early as 1786. This early WILLIAM probably wasn't the WILLIAM SR. listed above, since the latter was only 45+ yrs old and still with young children, in the 1820 Buckingham Census. So, NICHOLAS' father might actually have been an earlier WILLIAM TURNER. It may be too soon to look for a naming pattern, though, since WILLIAM, son of NICHOLAS, didn't follow the expected pattern. -------------- My cousin, Mike Arterburn of California, and I are descendants of this WILLIAM TURNER, and we will be working to establish more clearly WILLIAM and FRANCES TURNER'S VA roots. At some point, DNA analysis might be used to help distinguish or relate branches of VA TURNERS where very little or nothing can be found of an early paper trail. Any descendants of this TURNER family who wish may join in this effort, and all are welcome to participate! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com