Clay Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties-Jonah Turner
Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1890
JONAH W. TURNER came to Clay County,
Kan., from Jo Daviess County, Ill., in 1871,
and purchased 160 acres of land in Mulberry
Township, where he has since sojourned.
About the same time he also homesteaded eighty
acres on section 15,and has now eighty acres of well improved
land there, which has become the source
of a comfortable income. He was born in Hancock
County, Ind., Feb. 4, 1840, and is the son of Adam
Turner, a native of Ohio, and a farmer and general
mechanic by occupation. The latter, emigrated to
Indiana a single man, and was there married to
Miss Elizabeth A. S. Troxel. This lady was born
in Maryland, and was of English ancestry. Her
parents were likewise natives of that State, and emigrated
to Indiana at an early day. In 1840 they
removed to Illinois, spending the remainder of their
lives in Jo Daviess County.
Adam Turner and his wife, after their marriage,
sojourned in Indiana among its earliest pioneers
until after the birth of two children�Jonah, our
subject, being the younger. Then, in 1840, they
emigrated to Wisconsin, settling in the new mining
town of Shullsburg, where the father became
interested in the mines. Later, in 1850, he removed
to Guilford Township, Jo Daviess Co., Ill.,
and died there Nov. 3, 1854, at the age of forty-seven
years, having been born Nov. 25, 1807. He
was a good man in the broadest sense of the term,
a Whig, politically, and a citizen highly esteemed
in his community.
The mother of our subject survived her husband
some years, then coming to Kansas, died at the
home of her son-in-law, J. A. Dittmar, in Clay
Center, April 12, 1880. She was then sixty-two
years old, having been born Sept. 11, 1818. She
found her religious home in the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Jonah was only a few months old
when his parents removed to Wisconsin. He went
with them to Illinois, and received his early education
in Jo Daviess County, where he likewise attained
to his majority. In 1870, with his mother
and two sisters, he came to Kansas, and for some
years they all lived together.
When ready to establish a fireside of his own,
Mr. Turner was married June 4, 1879, in Clifton,
Kan., to Miss Julia A. Wellborn. This lady was a
native of Wilkes County, N. C, and was born Oct.
9, 1843. Her parents were Thomas S. and Amanda
(Templeton) Wellborn, likewise natives of North
Carolina, the father being of Scotch ancestry,
and born in Stokes County, and the mother in
Iredell County. After marriage they lived for a
number of years in Wilkes County. In the year
1852 they removed to Watauga County, and from
there, in 1864, to Washington County, E. Tenn.,
where they settled upon a farm, and have since
made their home in that county, being now residents
of Johnson City. The father is now about
seventy-eight years, and the mother seventy-four
years old. They are most worthy and excellent
people, and members in good standing of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Mr. Wellborn was a
strong Union man during the late Civil War, and
suffered much on account of his principles, losing
all his property and enduring many outrages. One
of his sons was killed during that terrible time, and
he nearly lost his own life, because he strenuously
opposed secession and slavery.
Mrs. Turner remained with her parents until after
their removal to Tennessee, and having acquired
a good education, occupied herself as a teacher.
She came to Kansas in 1877, and two years later
was married. She became the mother of four children,
two of whom died unnamed. The survivors
are: J. Bessie, and Francis M. Mr. and Mrs.
Turner are connected with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and politically, Mr. Turner is a supporter
of the Republican party. He has held the office of
Justice of the Peace and Township Trustee, together
with other positions of trust and responsibility.
After the last call for troops, Mr. Turner, on the
5th of October, 1864, enlisted in Company E, 17th
Illinois Cavalry, which operated mostly in Southern
Missouri and Kansas in the scouting service.
The war ending a few months afterward, he was not
called upon to participate in any active fighting,
and was honorably discharged at Ft. Leavenworth,
Oct. 6, 1865, one year from the time of his enlistment.