William Thomas Turner (1825 - 1879)

Born 14 Jul 1825 in Georgia, United States

Husband of Cinthia M. (Haywood) Turner — married about 1845 in Alabama, USA [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1879 at age 54 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Deborah Dunn [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Turner Name Study.

William was born in 1825 in GA. He passed away in 1879 in Pontotoc County, Mississippi.

Bill Turner as affectionately referred to by his family, lived close to Topsy in Randolph, Pontotoc County, Mississippi. He swapped with cousin Willie Tutor for the old home place, "the old log Tutor School House." Organ (Orgroane) Turner said when he was a little boy that he crawled up under the house and got stuck. They had to get a shovel and dig out around him to get him out from under the house. There was a horse gin on the home place. Elisha Thora Turner got the Turner place right out of town and when aunt Ada died, he went to live with his son William Harold in Calhoun County, Mississippi. Elisha ginned his own cotton, but he didn't want to start on Friday because he said it was bad luck to start something on Friday that you could not finish, so they stayed the night and on Monday morning, Elisha began work and cut his fingers off. Elisha said that if he had done this on Friday, we would have said it was bad luck, but since it was Monday he wasn't gonna pay any attention to it. Everyone of Bill's kid's children became a church deacon or preacher. William Thora is buried in Coats Cemetery, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, on Topsy Road in Randolph. No proof as to what his middle name really was Thora or Thomas, different ones in the family have different ideas as to which one is correct (some day maybe we will find some proof). Recorded in his parents Family Bible as William T. R. Turner, John and Sarah Turner's Family Bible (1802 ed.) Info by Lamar O. Warren, 1996)

How I wished William Turner could have told us all these things, writing and gathering this information would have been so much easier. I have always had to work hard for what I have and guess all this family information means so much to me now because I have worked hard to get it. Don't take family for granted. We all have our place in the family and in its History. It is the history that I have enjoyed the most. Putting faces or maybe visualizing faces of those we never knew, conjured up from the information you have unearthed. Just like digging for gold.

I was told that William came from Edgefield, South Carolina. Since that time I have found that he was born in GA, then his family moved to Gwinnett/Henry County, Georgia, then moved to Calhoun, Benton, Randolph County Alabama, where his father died when William was 12 years old.

We have been told that the Turners came here from Ireland, 5 brothers. They came here seeking religious Freedom, they hued out a settlement form the forest, fought for this country's independence and lived and died helping to build a nation for the free and the brave. I want to know all about them, their beliefs, their church, what they did for a living, what kind of lives they lived. They are more than names, they were living people. Our family. This is our PAST, our PRESENT, and our FUTURE.

1850 Benton Co. AL. Census 30th Dist. Jan 17th 1850 page 416 - H/H 366 William Turner 24 M Farmer SC Sarah 23 F NC William. T. 3 M AL George 1 M AL Turner, John 18 M SC (This John was probably his brother) because son John was not born yet.

1860 Calhoun County Alabama Census, page 348 Post Office: Oxford, June 30, 1860 House # 414 Family 414 William Turner is listed at age 36, white male, Farmer, Personal Value $500.00 Birth Place SC Lucinda age 35, white Female, birth place NC William T. age 13 White Male Born AL George W. age 11 White Male Born AL John L. age 8 White Male born AL Sarah age 4 white female born AL Eliga age 1 white male born AL John Gooden age 18 white male farm hand born in GA

1870 Lafayette County Mississippi Census, Township 08, Lafayette, Mississippi, United States Page Number 26 Wm Turner age 50 white male born SC, Head of household Cintha Turner F 45 Georgia W T Turner M 22 Alabama G W Turner M 20 Alabama S N Turner F 12 Alabama E C Turner M 10 Alabama Elisha Turner M 7 Alabama Ellen Turner F 3 Alabama

Notes

William Thomas Turner? His son William Thomas, which was not a Junior had a son named T.V.R. Turner, and a son named William Thomas Turner Jr.

• There is a William Turner listed on the Memorial Wall listed for the Confederate Soldiers that lived and joined in Calhoun County, AL. Other Turners listed are Andrew J., Benjamin, C.M., D., David C., E. C., J. B., J. F., J. H., James W., Jesse R, Little Berry, Simon B., William Turner. I believe this William Turner is the son of William T. R. Turner.

Sources

See also:

• "freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~turnerdna/group7.html."

• "United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MFS8-5WD : accessed 3 March 2015), Wm Turner, Mississippi, United States; citing p. 26, family 287, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,233.

• "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25165-1978-83?cc=1473181 : 8 April 2016), Alabama > Calhoun > Ranges 8 and 9 > image 50 of 133; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:66NX-R3QB : Sun Mar 10 23:38:25 UTC 2024), Entry for William Turner,19 Jul 1851.