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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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O. J. Turner The
student interested in the history of Jasper County does not have to carry his
investigations far into its annals before learning that 0. J. Turner has long
been an active and leading representative of its great agricultural interests
and that his labors have proven a potent force in making this a rich farming
region. Through several decades he
has carried on diversified farming and stock raising, gradually improving his
valuable land, and while he has prospered in this he has also found ample
opportunity to assist in the material development of the County, and his
co-operation has been of value for the general good. He is one of the honored veterans of the Union army who, when
the tocsin of war sounded in the nation's crisis, uncomplainingly went forth to
defend with his life/if need be, the honor of the old flag.
His career in every respect has been one of commendation and is well
worth study and emulation by the youth whose fortunes are yet matters for future
years to determine.
Mr.
Turner is the scion of a sterling old Kentucky family. He was born on April 23,
1840, in Wayne County, Kentucky; the son of W. C. and Eliza (Sanders) Turner,
both natives of Kentucky, in which state they grew up, were educated and
married. The father is of French
extraction and the mother of German descent.
Grandfather Sanders was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Prior to his marriage W. C. Turner was a pilot on the Cumberland, Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, being very skilled as such and well-known to river men.
He afterwards devoted his attention to farming, spending his life in Kentucky,
where his death occurred at the advanced age of eighty-four years, his wife
having died there when sixty-five years old.
He was an active, public spirited and successful man, interested in
politics and educational affairs. He
assisted in dredging the Cumberland from its source to its mouth.
His family consisted of nine children, 0. J. of this review being the
oldest; G. W. lives in southern Kansas; Mary is deceased; Sarah is the widow of
Race Bunch and lives on the home farm in Wayne County, Kentucky; Scioto is
deceased; James lives in Rock Creek Township, Jasper County; Hiram lives in
Wayne County, Kentucky; Ann is deceased; Augustus lives in Scottsville,
Illinois. When 0. J. Turner was eighteen years old he
began farming, which he continued one year, then entered Cumberland College,
taking a general course. In October
1861, he gave up his prospects of a college training and enlisted in the Federal
army. Company H, Twelfth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, in General Thomas'
division. Almost immediately he was
sent to the battlefield of Millspring, Kentucky, then on to the capture of Forts
Donelson and Henry, then went with Buell to reinforce Grant at Shiloh.
After this he participated in the battle of Corinth, also Tuscumbia.
He was next in the strenuous race with Bragg to Louisville, culminating
in the battle of Perryville. Later
he was in the fierce engagement at Stone's river, also in the battles of
Chattanooga, Knoxville and Strawberry Plains. At the latter place he re-enlisted
and veteranized, being sent to Chattanooga to begin the Georgia campaign.
For several days he was in the chase after Johnson, finally meeting his
army in the bloody battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and in the sharp engagement at
the crossing of the Chattahoochee River, and in numerous other engagements
leading up to the battle of Atlanta. From
there he was sent west with the Twenty-third Army Corps to watch Hood and was
held as a reserve in the battle of Allatoona Pass.
Here he saw a wounded woman who had been fighting in men's clothes as a
Confederate soldier. They met Hood's forces at Columbia, Tennessee, after which
he was in the battle at Franklin, said to be the bloodiest of the war,
considering the number of men engaged. Mr.
Turner's regiment was then sent with those assigned to guard Nashville, finally
taking part in the great battle there. After
that he was sent by rail and water to Alexandria, Virginia, and from there by
ship to Fort Fisher. North Carolina, but he was not in the fight at that place.
He then went to join Sherman's forces, and while on the way was in the
battle of Mill Creek, North Carolina, finally joining Sherman at Goldsboro,
thence he was sent to Raleigh, North Carolina, finally to Louisville, Kentucky,
where he was honorably discharged. Returning
home after his gallant career as a soldier, Mr. Turner taught a term of school,
then re-entered Cumberland College where he remained two years.
In March 1868, he left Kentucky and came to Kellogg, Iowa, where he
taught school and farmed alternately for three years.
He has continued farming very successfully ever since, in fact, has
succeeded much beyond the average person as a husbandman, being now one of the
County's largest landowners and substantial citizens.
He has seven hundred and twenty acres of as fine land as this locality
can boast, near Newton and Grinnell and he is also the owner of eight hundred
acres of valuable land in Walworth County, South Dakota.
Besides this he owns considerable town property in Newton, all well
improved and desirable. That he has
accomplished all this unaided since he came here, starting with a capital of
only ten dollars, is criterion enough to show that he is a man of superior
business acumen, sound sense and mature judgment. He has kept his lands well improved and under a high state of
cultivation and whatever he has turned his attention to has resulted in a large
measure of success.
On
November 15, 1872, Mr. Turner was united in marriage with Elizabeth A. Rice, of
Wayne County, Kentucky, the daughter of E. B. and Rebecca Rice, both now
deceased. This union has resulted
in the birth of seven children, five of whom are living, two dying in infancy;
E. O. lives at Turner, Jasper County; G. W. lives on his father's South Dakota
land; Lulu is the wife of H. V. Clutter, of Arkansas County, Arkansas; L. R. is
a doctor in Humboldt, Iowa; E. S. is at home and is attending school.
The son, E.W., is a noted wrestler and was at one time champion of South
Dakota. E. S. is an all-around
athlete with many medals for records. He is a great sprinter. In his younger
days the father, O. J. was a runner and wrestler of local reputation. Mr.
Turner is a very prominent and influential man in this section of the state,
widely known and highly respected by all classes. He has always taken an active interest in politics and public
affairs. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, of which he is a
deacon at present and a very liberal supporter. Politically, he votes independently, preferring to cast his
ballot for the best men. He is a
member of Kellogg Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 1088. |
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