ROSCOE T. TURNER.
Roscoe T. Turner, an enterprising farmer of Audubon township, Audubon county, Iowa, enjoys the distinction of owning the highest assessed farm in Audubon township. Some years ago, having purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land in section 33 of this township, comprising a farm which was very poorly improved, Mr. Turner set to work diligently and within a few years has built a new eight-room house; a large barn, thirty-six by fifty-four by twenty-two feet; a sheep shed, twenty-six by one hundred and twenty feet; a hog house, twenty-two by forty-four feet, with a feeding floor, thirty-six by fifty-four feet; a silo of a hundred and fifty tons capacity, and many rods of woven-wire fence. Not only is the Turner farm recognized as being the most valuable in Audubon township, but it is likewise one of the most attractive farms to be found in this township.
Roscoe T. Turner, the son of Nathaniel and Fannie (Richardson) Turner, was born on May 13, 1878, in Exira township, Audubon county, on the old Dick Gault farm. Nathaniel Turner, who was born in Fulton county, Illinois, January 24, 1856, was the son of John and Nancy (Miller) Turner, natives respectively of Kentucky and Indiana. John Turner was a private in Company G, Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, during the Civil War. Soon after the war he moved with his family to Audubon county, arriving at Exira, October 28, 1868, having driven overland from Des Moines. After living until 1870 in Exira, where they kept a hotel for some time, they moved to Lewisville and rented a tract of land, known as the old Ingham farm, south of Exira. After farming for some time, John Turner and his wife retired and spent their remaining days with their son, Nathaniel, and family.
On January 4, 1877, Nathaniel Turner married Marguerite Frances Richardson, who was born in Jones county, Iowa, December 3, 1861, and who was the daughter of Samuel and Phoebe (Climer) Richardson, pioneers of the section, the former of whom, at the time he was killed in the Civil War, left a widow and four children, of whom Mrs. Nathaniel Turner was the third in order of birth. Mrs. Richardson remarried and in 1870 the family came to Audubon county. Nathaniel and Marguerite F. (Richardson) Turner had two children, Roscoe, the subject of this sketch, and Alice, born on February 7, 1894, who is a student in the college at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but is now living at home.
Roscoe T. Turner lived at home until he was married, having received his education in the school at Greeley Center, in Greeley township. After he was married, he rented a farm in Melville township for a year, and then purchased eighty acres of land in section 22 of Greeley township, living on that farm for five years, or until he purchased the hundred-and-sixty-acre farm where he now lives. Mr. Turner feeds sheep in large numbers. In 1914 he fed about fifteen hundred head and in 1915 he had twelve hundred head. He also raised cattle and hogs, selling about one car load of cattle and two carloads of hogs every year. Mr. Turner's farm, in which he takes great pride, is well known as the Valley View farm and may be counted as one of the best in Audubon county.
On December 25, 1901, Mr. Turner was married to Edith Pine, who was born on December 27, 1878, in Iowa county, Iowa, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Correll) Pine, early settlers in Audubon county. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have one child, Lois, born on March 16, 1907.
The Turners are members of the Congregational church. A Democrat in politics, Roscoe T. Turner has served as township clerk in both Greeley and Audubon townships, and faithfully discharged the duties of these offices. He is a young man of engaging personality, popular in the community where he lives, and honored and respected by those with whom he has come in contact.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 702-704.
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