A Visit to McDowell County

In the fall of 2018, I had the opportunity to revisit my childhood home--McDowell County, West Virginia. The Turpin family's connection with this area began in 1932.

In 1932, King Turpin, Jr. moved to McDowell County with his wife, Nellie, and their children. They settled in the Kimball area. The Turpins stayed in the home of Charlie and Bertha Gary, but they spent a lot of time at William Church's home on Rock House Mountain. Not long after their arrival, Nellie died from giving birth to twins, who also died within thirty days of their mother's death.

Before the end of 1932, King married Bertha Lee Church, the daughter of William Church. Almost a year later, Bertha gave birth to my father, Jim Turpin. A more detailed account is given in my book entitled, A Man Called King.

Most of Jim's childhood memories were of life on Rock House Mountain. He lived there, other places and Laurel Hollow (above Carswell Hollow) up to the time of his marriage to Betty Turpin in 1954. Jim and Betty's second home was in Carswell, and that was my first childhood home after my birth in 1958.

The following video features highlights from my quick 2018 tour of Welch, Kimball and Carswell.

A Visit to Somerset, Kentucky

In 1792, Martin Turpin (my 5th great-grandfather, and son of Solomon Turpin) and his family moved from Gap Valley, Virginia to Madison County, Kentucky. By the time he applied for his Revolutionary War pension, he was living in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

In 2018, while preparing for a road trip to West Virginia, I noticed that I would be driving through Somerset, Kentucky--the county seat of Pulaski County. Remembering that Martin had lived in this area, I Googled "Martin Turpin Kentucky" and found a Kentucky Kindred Genealogy article entitled, "Revolutionary War Soldiers of Pulaski County" (hopefully the link is still active). In this article, a monument at the Pulaski County courthouse is featured, and on its plaque the name "Martin Turpin" is included in a list of Revolutionary War veterans. I made my plans to stop to see this marker, and the following video tells about that visit.

2018 Discoveries Near Knoxville

While on a business trip through Tennessee, it occurred to me that I was passing very close to some sites of potential significance to the Turpin family story. I took the time to stop.

My first stop was at the location of "Loveville" and Campbell Station. Martin Turpin settled in this area when he was fourteen years old. My second stop was at Southwest Point--the check-in station where Martin Turpin's flotilla likely stopped in 1796 after having traveled from Virginia on the Clinch River. The following two videos tell the story of these on-site investigations in early January of 2018.

A Visit to Loveville and Campbell Station



A Visit to Southwest Point

Ancestry.com DNA Results

I have just received my Ancestry.com DNA results, and here is my reaction video. The only surprise is that there is no DNA evidence for my Cherokee ancestry. All that means is that those genes did not get passed down to me. It does not necessarily mean that there is no Cherokee ancestry in this family line. Hopefully other Turpins in this family line will take the Ancestry.com DNA test; their results may indicate the Native American connection.




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