My Genealogy Hound

BARTLETTE TURNER was born in Scotland county, Mo., October 6, 1851. His father, William A. Turner, was born in Virginia in 1827 but emigrated to Illinois when quite young, and in 1845 moved to Missouri, where he engaged in farming. He has always taken great interest in agricultural pursuits and still resides at Granger, Scotland county, Mo. His wife is Eliza Powers, born in Indiana in 1831. William H. Turner, the paternal grandfather of our subject, emigrated from Virginia to Illinois and later to Missouri, where he died in 1877. The maternal grandfather, Richard Powers, lived in Missouri and died before the war; his wife, Mary Powers, died in Missouri in 1885.

Mr. Turner, the subject of this sketch, began life for himself in 1872 by working a farm by the month. His sole ambition was to get a home of his own, and with this purpose in view he provided himself with a “prairie schooner” and set out for the boundless West. He journeyed as far as Buffalo county, Nebraska, where he arrived on the first of October, 1873. After prospecting about for a while he concluded to take up a homestead in Thornton township. Here he built a sod house and went to work in earnest to secure a home. The country was new, and he had to labor under many disadvantages, but he eventually overcame these obstacles and is to-day one of the prosperous farmers of his locality. His farm contains 240 acres of land, mostly under cultivation and otherwise improved. A substantial farm dwelling has superseded the old sod house and beautiful forest trees break the monotony of the rolling prairie.

Mr. Turner was united in marriage December 26, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Standard. Three children have been born to this union, namely — William L., born January 30, 1874; Fred A., born July 6, 1876, and Frank, born June 25, 1885. The father of Mrs. Turner was Thomas Standard, who was born in Ohio and who emigrated to Missouri when a young man, and engaged in farming. He died in the service of his country at Cincinnati, Ohio, during the war. He was married to Mary Phelps, a native of Missouri, who is now living at Arbela, Mo. Both were devoted members of the Christian church.

Mr. and Mrs. Bartlette Turner remember seeing herds of antelope passing only a few rods from their present home, and the former has seen buffalo in this country since his residence here. He has hauled fuel, during his early settlement, from fifteen to thirty miles and has paid as high as $1.20 for a bushel of corn. He erected his first sod house, fourteen by sixteen feet, at an outlay of only $3.00. Mr. Turner has never aspired to political honors, but has several times served in the capacity of clerk and treasurer of his township, he has always affiliated with the democratic party.