The Kindness of Captain Frazier

At some point between 1908 and 1915, "Little King" Turpin and his sister, Minnie Belle, ran away from their home at Mullins Cove on the Tennessee River and were embraced for several days by the kindness of a gentleman in Chattanooga, Tennessee referred to as "Captain Frazier."

The complete story is told in the post entitled, "Runaways at Mullins Cove."

Minnie described Captain Frazier as old, wealthy, and kind. She also reported that he had sons who became well-known lawyers. He had house servants as well.

In light of Minnie's words, Captain S. J. A. Frazier fits the description.

S. J. A. Frazier was a former Confederate captain residing in Chattanooga at the time of the runaway story. Some details about his life may be reviewed at Chattanoogan.com.

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Indiana Turpins

My personal Turpin ancestry does not reach into Indiana; however, the Indiana Turpins are our "distant cousins." Because of the fact that I want this site to be of benefit to our "cousins" in Kentucky, Indiana, and elsewhere, I will from time to time include information such as what I am providing here in this post.

Researchers studying the Indiana branch of our family tree may be interested in accessing the "Turpin Family Papers" made available by the Indiana Historical Society.

Other relevant links for the study of Indiana Turpins include the following:

• Thomas Turpin Family Bible
• Turpen Cemetery (Boonville, Indiana)
• Indiana Genealogy Resources
  
• Firstmom's Genealogy Resources--Indiana
• Geneasearch: Indiana Genealogy
  

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Laura Turpin's Walk to Church

March Video Tour - Part 7

My great-great aunt, Laura Turpin (1881-1982), used to walk at least four miles from her home in Hardin Valley to the Solway Church of God (Solway, Tennessee) every Sunday.

On March 3, 2008, I drove the exact route that Laura and her brother, Frank, used to walk. In the following video, you will join me as I drive from the Solway church to the approximate location of Laura's home in Hardin Valley.


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A Visit to Solway Church of God

March Video Tour - Part 6

"Aunt Laura" Turpin and her brother Frank were responsible for the establishing (or re-establishing) of the Solway Church of God (Knox County, Tennessee) in the early twentieth century.

In the following video, you will be taken to the Solway church and to its adjacent cemetery where several notable Turpins are buried: Rildia (Serelda) Turpin, Amanda Turpin, King Turpin, Ida Belle Turpin, Laura Turpin Dunaway, Frank Turpin, and others.


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A Visit to Bethel Valley

March Video Tour - Part 5

In the following video clip you will note my almost child-like excitement over the fact that I had stumbled across the eastern entrance to Bethel Valley near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Please understand that I first heard about the significance of this place to our family history about ten years ago, yet I had never been there.

Bethel Valley is significant in that it may have been one of the places where the Turpins lived after arriving in the Knox County, Anderson County, and Roane County area in the early 1800s.


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A Visit to the Clough-Christenberry Cemetery

March Video Tour - Part 4

Here is some very rough video work--the worst series of clips from my little family history video tour yet. Sorry. I really wish that I had taken more time, but I was in a bit of a rush.

On this part of my journey, I discovered the Clough-Christenberry cemetery located in a wooded area in the middle of the Oak Ridge Country Club golf course. Only a few of the grave markers were legible.

I discovered later that some of the Christenberry names that I mentioned on the clip are connected with the Christenberry families that I visited earlier in the day at the George Jones Memorial Baptist Church cemetery.

Note that the Scott Cemetery (where a number of Turpins are buried) and this Clough-Christenberry cemetery are within sight of one another. In view of the proximity, I am wondering if the country club site may be the site where the Turpins and Christenberrys once lived side by side. As you view the video, ponder that question with me. Hopefully somebody out there in cyberspace has some answers.

Okay, enough for the text. On with the show....


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A Visit to Scott Cemetery

March Video Tour - Part 3

Join me as I search for the gravesite of Martin Turpin (the son of James Turpin, the son of Martin Turpin) at the Scott Cemetery near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.


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The Patesville, Kentucky Incident

By Becky Jolly Vaught

About 1890, Vince Turpin visited his sister Nancy Turpin Newman, in Patesville, KY. Nancy lived across the street from the general store.

Vince was in the store when some one came in to tell him that a man was looking for him. He and this man had had trouble earlier. When Vince went out to the street, he was attacked by the other man who was drunk and waving a knife. Vince managed to pull his own knife and administer one blow. That blow was enough as it effectively gutted his opponent; a fatal blow.

The county sheriff was duly sent for and he took Vince back to the county seat to stand trial. After a short trial where Vince's young nephew, Will Newman, was called as a witness and even shorter deliberation by the jury, a verdict was reached. Not guilty by reason of self defense and besides that the man needed killing anyway!

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A Visit to George Jones Memorial Baptist Church

March Video Tour - Part 2

My family history video tour continues with a visit to the George Jones memorial Baptist Church cemetery, located at the site of the Wheat Community near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Here I am in search of Joshua King Christenberry's gravesite.


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En Route to Oak Ridge

March Video Tour - Part 1

On March 3, 2008 I took a trip to the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area to explore possible sites where the Turpins may have settled near the Clinch River in the late 1700's and early 1800's. The following video (Part 1) documents the first part of my journey, taking the viewer to the site of the Wheat Community in Roane County.

In this video I make reference to a "Mary Elizabeth Russell" as being the wife of Martin Turpin. Since producing this clip I have learned that her name was simply "Elizabeth Russell"--"Mary" was not her first name.



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My Interest in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Has anyone heard of Oak Ridge, Tennessee? Does the term "Manhattan Project" sound familiar?

In the 1940s the United States government built this secret city called "Oak Ridge" to initiate the "Manhattan Project"--an endeavor that would result in the creation of the world's first atomic bombs.

So what does any of this have to do with the Turpin family?

Between the years 1797 and 1805, Martin Turpin entered Tennessee by raft on the Clinch River. He first lived someplace in Knox County, but soon he and his family were living in what is now Anderson and/or Roane Counties. According to family historian, John Strunk, the Turpins lived in Bethel Valley--the site where one day a high security plant known by code name "X-10" would be built.

(The property passed into the hands of the Christenberry family in the 1860s or 1870s; the Turpins lived elsewhere at the time when the government began the Manhattan Project.)

This week I am making a personal trip to Oak Ridge to gain a better sense of where Martin Turpin and his son, James, may have lived.

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