Turpin Family
Three brothers came from Yorkshire, England, probably in the seventeenth century, and settled in Chesterfield county, Virginia. One of them was Philip, father of Thomas Turpin, who married Obedience, daughter of Martha (Goode), a branch of the famous Goode family, in the Old Dominion. He was father of Thomas, Jr., who was wedded to Mary Jefferson, a lady reported to have been of the blood of the great Monticello statesman. They were parents of a family of ten children, among whom were two Philips. The first died young; the second survived to manhood, married Caroline Rose, became a physician in and near Richmond, Virginia, and the "Dr. Turpin" whose name is identified with the early settlement of Anderson township. He never was a proprietor here, and never visited the Miami country; but was assignee of an extensive "army right," or land-warrant (No. 1007) granted to John Crittenden, a lieutenant "in the Virginia Line on. Continental Establishment,"—that is, in the Revolutionary war—in consideration of military services. The following, the original of which is in the possession of E. J. Turpin, esq., is the primal document in the case:
On February 7, 1785.
I hereby acknowledge having sold unto Doctor Phillips Turpen my military right, consisting of two thousand six hundred sixty-six and two-third acres, meaning the warrant, the expenses of which he is to defray, and which I hereby oblige myself, my heirs, exers and adminitrs. to make a right so soon as such right can be made. I also acknowledge the receipt of seventy-three pounds for the same out of the sum of one hundred pounds, which is the sum agreed on.
Given under my hand.
John Crittenden.
Test
Francis Harris.
Among the children of Dr. Turpin was Philip Turpin, his only son, he having two daughters besides. To him, at about the time he attained his majority, the father presented, by assignment, the right to one thousand acres in the Virginia military district, under the Crittenden warrant. Young Philip made several trips on horseback, near the close of the century, to and from the Miami valley, sometimes visiting Lieutenant Crittenden at Lexington (this was the father of John J. Crittenden, the celebrated lawyer and statesman); and finally, it is believed in the year 1797, he set his pioneer stakes down upon the rich tract below Newtown subsequently patented to him, and began improvement on it. After a few years he removed to the Kentucky shore for a more healthful location, and resided on the hills opposite the mouth of the Little Miami. In 1799, October 9, his patent to the Survey No. 416, upon which he had located, for one thousand acres, was granted and signed by John Adams, President of the United States and Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State. Mr. Turpin was married in 1807, to Miss Mary Smith, of a family that had just immigrated to Kentucky from New York. His father was a slave-holder at the old home, and shortly after his marriage sent out to him a young colored girl named Gracie, as a house-servant. This woman, now Mrs. Watkins, is still living in the family of E. J. Turpin, and is supposed to be eighty-eight to ninety years old. She was at the time of her arrival the only colored person in the neighborhood, and was naturally a great curiosity.
Mr. Turpin spent five to six years upon the Kentucky hills, where his first children, Philip and Ebenezer, were born, and he then removed to his Anderson farm. In 1824 he erected the well known Turpin mill, a large flouring establishment, upon the site of the old mill of the Holleys at that point, about a quarter of a mile below the present Union bridge, probably at the same place where the floating mill of Wickerham was anchored in the pioneer days. He conducted this mill, as well as farming operations. In the mill he was in partnership for the first five years with his brother-in-law, Aaron Foulk, who was a practical millwright and miller, and had superintended the construction and starting of the mill. Mr. Turpin also, about 1826 or 1827, built a small distillery on Clough creek, one mile from the mill, which he carried on for three or four years, and then left it to the management of his sons. He remained in the milling business, however, until the time of his death, in 1834. He built the original family mansion at Union bridge, of which the present mansion, occupied by the younger Philip Turpin, is an enlargement. The mother died in August, 1851. They left children as follows:
Philip Parmell, born November 18, 1804; died June 24, 1818.
Ebenezer Smith, born May 30, 1808; married Amanda Melvina, daughter of Major John Armstrong, of Plainville, January 19, 1831; died September 15, 1879.
Caroline Matilda Rozenia, born May 13, 1810; overturned with several others in a skiff crossing the Little Miami at Round Bottom ford, July 3, 1822, and drowned.
Edward Johnson, born at the old home in Anderson township May 6, 1814; further noticed below.
Mary Margaret, born May 20, 1816; died September 8, 1816.
Philip Parmell, born August 5, 1818; married Nancy Campbell Johnston September 24, 1846; died September 29, 1848.
Robert Carmichael, born September 3, 1820; married Frances Mary Stewart September 23, 1846; died of consumption, while travelling in the south for his health, on board the steamship Galveston, near the Balize, December 22, 1847.
Mary Caroline, born November 6, 1822; died while at school in Augusta, Kentucky, July 19, 1839.
Aaron Foulk, born June 24, 1827; died September 16, 1851.
Edward J. Turpin, born at the time and place above noticed, spent his early years at home, receiving his education in the schools of that neighborhood, except during a few months' attendance, shortly after his father's death, at Woodward college, Cincinnati, when the Rev. Dr. B. P. Ayzelott was president and Dr. Joseph Ray was professor of mathematics. Returning to the farm, he engaged in its labors, and after his father's death leased the interest of his brothers in the mill and managed it for three or four years, also conducting the distillery for some time before he took the mill, but relinquishing it before his connection with the mill ceased. In the spring of 1844 he left the mill altogether and bought the fine place he now occupies half a mile south of Newtown, upon which he erected the spacious mansion in which he dwells, somewhat remodelled of later years. Here he has lived the tranquil life of a successful and independent farmer, unvexed by public affairs or party squabbles. He has, however, been a staunch Republican since the party sprang into being, and was a Free Soiler from the time of the Van Buren campaign, and takes a cordial interest in the success of his party when elections are pending. He is unconnected with any religious, secret, or benevolent society, except the Newtown Grange of Patrons of Husbandry.
Mr. Turpin was married May 29, 1839, to Miss Christina, daughter of Mathias Kugler, of the pioneer family that settled early in the century near Camp Denison, and of Elizabeth (Waldsmith) Kugler, daughter of the famous miller and land-owner of that settlement. She is still living. They have had eight children, all of whom survive save one.
Hon. Ebenezer S. Turpin was identified with the growth of Hamilton county for more than half a century. He was born, as noted above. May 30, 1808, and died at his home in Anderson township, half a mile north of Newtown, September 15, 1879. In his early life he attended Wing's academy in Cincinnati, upon the present site of the Gazette office, and in due time was associated with his father and his brother Edward in the mill below Union Bridge, the two brothers continuing in the business together after the decease of the elder Turpin. This was abandoned, however, in 1868, when the mill was demolished, the back-water from the Ohio having destroyed the power. He had previously carried on for a number of years a distillery near Newtown, and engaged in other business, most of which was successful and realized him a handsome fortune. He settled on a valuable farm in the vicinity adjoining that of his brother Edward, upon which he erected a handsome dwelling, and resided there at the time of his death. In 1855, at the earnest personal solicitation of Judge Long and the Hon. William Corry, he became a candidate for the legislature on the Democratic ticket, and was elected, serving for one term. He made a faithful and successful member, but steadfastly refused to enter public life thereafter. He was a Democrat, however, to the end of his days. The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, in an obituary notice of Mr. Turpin, said:
His personal character was in the highest degree honorable, He was a kind husband and father, a good neighbor and faithful citizen. His benevolence was only equaled by his honesty and probity in business matters, and many young men received their start in life from him. He had a kind word for everybody, was unostentatious in his manners, and a kind master and friend.
About two years ago Mr. Turpin received a stroke of paralysis, which made him an invalid ever since. The cause of his death, however, was a pulmonary affection.
The children of Ebenezer S. and Amanda (Armstrong) Turpin numbered eleven, three sons and eight daughters. Among them, still surviving, are Estus K., the subject of a notice below; Philip T., who resides at the old homestead, near the Union Bridge; Margaret, now wife of Hon. James S. Gordon, of the Washington Republic (formerly of the Post), and a prominent journalist of the capital; Leila, the oldest daughter, who married Dr. W. P. Elston, a physician of Columbia, Hamilton county,- both now dead; Lizzie, married Major William E. Jones, of Cincinnati, and deceased three weeks after marriage; Theresa, wife of E. E. Hulderson, esq., formerly prosecuting attorney, and himself now deceased, and Luella, wife of Charles B. Russell, treasurer of the Cincinnati gas company.
Estus K. Turpin was born in the paternal residence, which he now owns and occupies, July 18, 1840. He was trained in the public schools of Cincinnati and in the private academy kept by Professor Andrew J. Rickoff. Returning to the farm at the age of twenty-one, he undertook the management of it, in consequence of his father's failing health, and has remained a farmer upon this place ever since, as manager or owner. In April, 1875, he was elected a member of the county board of control upon the Democratic ticket, and re-elected three years afterwards, running several hundred votes ahead of his ticket, which was at that time generally in the minority. Although a public officer, he does not take any more time for politics than is the business of a good citizen, and is by no means a professional office-seeker. He is still unmarried, devoting himself so far to the care of his aged mother and the management of his estate.
From: History of Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1881; Compiled by: Henry A. Ford, A.M. and Mrs. Kate B. Ford; Publisher: L. A. Williams