Dear Turner list, I have been lurking in the shadows reading your list for several months. Today I got an early Christmas present from you. I am a Turney researcher, but find I have had to know a little something about the Turner surname in the early years. These are two different families, but there is a connection between two Turner brothers who married two Turney sisters in 1825 Tennessee. Your last messages have two things I would like to help clear up. I will do this with seperate messages. In early records up to about 1800 sometimes you can not tell if the name is Turney or Turner - I have found about 30 spellings of the Turney name and sometimes it is Turner. Sometimes Ternay, Turnni, etc which could be either one. Also, the two families do appear in some of the same places at the same time. It does not help that the Turney family was German speaking from Switzerland, and some of the Turner might also have been German speaking. this adds spice to the research. First - the message from David Costner - material taken from Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800 by Lewis Preston Summers. 1788 John Turney married Rebekah McMahan....this is mine. He was the son of Henry Turney who finally settled in Smith/Dekalb Co TN. John had a son named John G (Gilliam?) Turney born 1801 TN who married 1824 Jefferson Co Alabama to Elizabeth DeLoach. So this is a Turney - they were in Alabama, then Mississippi. 1774 a Michael Tomey was fined.....thought this might be Michael Turney but not sure Washington Co VA 1783 Henry Turner - case with Henry Herklerode.....this is a Turney 1779 Henry Turney appraisses estate of Martin Statzer - we always assumed this was a Turney 1778 Peter Turney - court.....a Turney (he was brother to my Henry Turney and died in Dixon Springs TN; was the father of lawyer Samuel Turney and Hopkins Lacey Turney who was a Senator; Peter was the grandfather of Col. Peter Turney of the 1st TN regiment in 1860s and later Governor of Tennessee) 1779 Henry Turney - case with Henry Harkleroad.....Turney 1779 Peter Turney - common law new causes.....Turney 1781 Peter Turney - jury......Turney Soldiers of different wars All of that on Peter Turney....a Turney. He was in Evan Shelby's unit at Battle of Point Pleasant. Later in Cherokee Expedition. Evan Shelby ended up with land near present day Bristol TN, my Henry Turney owned land ca 1774 next to him. Henry in Rev War was at Ft Nashborough NC (nashville TN) and rec 640 acres for his service. In early 1800s he was in Hawkins Co TN, by 1811 near Liberty Smith Co TN. Two of Henry Turney's grand-daughters marry into Turner family. Also in Washington Co VA in 1770s is Eve Turney who married John Teeter - she is the sister of Peter and Henry Turney out of Shenandoah Co VA. More later. Mary Turney Miller