Turner, Josiah P.

TURNER, MOORE, SHIRK, GORDON, TAYLOR, SUTTON, CLARK, HATFIELD, BAILEY, PRATT, JOHNSON, ZACHARY, HANES

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/23/2009 at 07:07:22

Turner, Josiah P.

Everybody in Prairie City, Jasper County, knows and honors Josiah Turner, a kindly, honest, genial veteran of the "grand army" that saved the Union. For years a typical "jolly miller" of the town which he still claims home, his special line of business giving him a wide acquaintance with the surrounding country for a radius of many miles, he is one of the best known the pioneers of this part of the county, which he has lived to see develop from the wild prairie, taking an active part in the same.

Mr. Turner was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 1832, the son of Isaiah and Nancy (Moore) Turner, the father born in Maryland in 1801, the son of Abel Turner. The family is of Scotch-Irish descent. The mother of the subject was born in New Jersey in 1803. These parents were married in Pennsylvania, where they devoted their lives to farming. Ten children were born to them, of whom Josiah P., of this review, was the fourth in order of birth; the others were named as follows: Mrs. Elizabeth Shirk, who died in Pennsylvania; Mrs. Martha Gordon also died in that state; Daniel died in New Orleans; Abel, who was a soldier in Company H, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, died in his native state; Mrs. Sarah Taylor also died in Pennsylvania; Mrs. Mary Sutton is living in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania; Tillie died in childhood; Nancy Ann, who has remained single, lives in the state of Pennsylvania, as does also James. The mother of these children died in Greene County in 1855, and the father subsequently married Mrs. Ruth Clark, a widow, this union having been without issue. The death of the father, Isaiah Turner, occurred in 1876.

Josiah P. Turner was educated in the country school of Greene County, Pennsylvania, remaining at home until 1854, when he came to LaSalle County, Illinois, and found work in a flouring mill there, and learned the business thoroughly. In those early days the newcomers to the Middle West frequently suffered from the ague, and the subject, not being exempt, left that country on this account and returned home after an absence of two years. When the call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion was sent out, it at once appealed to Mr. Turner's patriotic impulses, and as soon as he could arrange to do so he bade farewell to kith and kin and in July 1862, he enlisted at Waynesburg in Company K, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. At the battle of Antietam their colonel was captured, but later made his escape, and upon rejoining his regiment it was reorganized, Mr. Turner's company becoming Company D. Their colonel, William J. Palmer, was later made a brigadier-general. He was always greatly beloved by his soldiers and is now living at Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1907 he held a reunion of his regiment, furnishing transportation for all those living and who could attend. The subject was there and the memory of this reunion will fondly linger with him until the final "taps" are sounded. Besides the bloody conflict mentioned above, Mr. Turner took part in the scarcely less sanguinary conflicts of Chickamauga and Stone River. He was in the campaign about Atlanta, then their command was sent back to General Thomas and was engaged in the Battle of Nashville. He was with General Stoneman on his campaign through North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. He was in many skirmishes and saw much hard service. He was wounded in the foot at the battle of Stone River, and he was at one time confined in the hospital on account of sickness. According to his comrades he made a most faithful soldier, and for meritorious service became first sergeant of his company. After three years' service he was honorably discharged and mustered out on June 12, 1865.

After his career in the army he returned to Pennsylvania and the following year came to Iowa, where he met Elizabeth Clark and in March 1866, they were married in Muscatine County. She was born in Tyler County, Virginia, on October 9, 1842, the daughter of Remick and Maria (Hatfield) Clark, natives of Pennsylvania. They moved to Virginia shortly after their marriage and came to Muscatine, Iowa, in 1865, later moving to Missouri, where they bought a farm on which they spent the rest of their lives, Mr. Clark dying there at the age of seventy-eight years, his wife reaching the age of eighty-four. They were the parents of six children that grew to maturity, as follows: Emma, who married a Mr. McPherren, lives in Geneva, Nebraska; A. B. lives in Sullivan County, Missouri; Mrs. Minnie Bailey lives at Browning, Linn County, Missouri; Mrs. Joseph Pratt, now deceased, also lived in Missouri; Mrs. Amanda Johnson lives in Sullivan County, Missouri. Stephen Hatfield, grandfather of Mrs. Turner on her mother's side, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Turner went to Pennsylvania, but the following year, 1867, they returned to Iowa and have resided here continuously to the present time. For two years Mr. Turner farmed in Fairview Township, Jasper County, near the town of Monroe, and in 1870 he moved to Prairie City and worked in the flouring mill there, which he later purchased and in which he installed new machinery, converting it into a good rolling mill and soon built up an extensive and lucrative business. This he continued to operate and own until it was destroyed by fire, nine years ago. He did not rebuild it, but has lived practically retired since that time. He has accumulated a competency for his old age and is entitled to the respite he is enjoying. He has a pleasant home in Prairie City, which he bought June 1, 1871, forty years ago, and he has lived in the same ever since. During this long period he has witnessed many great changes in this locality.

To Mr. and Mrs. Turner six children have been born, namely: Virginia died when six years of age; Anna M. is at home; Amanda died when a child; Alberta died in infancy; Nettie married Hart W. Zachary, and they live on a farm three and one-half miles west of Prairie City, in Washington Township, and they have four children, Leland, Gerald, Raymond and Grace. Frank Turner married Haddie Hanes and lives in Prairie City, where he is employed as bookkeeper in the First National Bank, and they have one child, Francis Palmer.

Politically, Mr. Turner is a Democrat and he cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 for President. He is a member of McCray Post No. 177, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was formerly commander. Mrs. Turner is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 595.