Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 774 - 775 

OTHO J. TURNER, who is prominent among the farming and stock-raising interests of Park Township, is finely located on section 14, where he superintends the operations of 111 acres of land, and has been prosperous in his labors. He is a man of excellent business capacities, and his habits of thought and observation have tended to provide him with a good fund of general information, which has proved valuable in every respect.

            Coles County, Ill., was the birthplace of our subject, and the date thereof May 13, 1859. He was the eldest of his parents' three children. His father, William W., a native of Indiana, married in early life Miss Hannah Sawyer, who was born in Coles County, Ill. The paternal grandparents were John Thomas and Catherine Turner, and the former a blacksmith by trade. On the other side of the house the grandparents were James and Ann Eliza (Crawford) Sawyer, the latter being the stepmother of Mrs. Turner, her own mother having died when she was a child.

            William W. Turner, like his father before him, learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed until his removal from his native State to Illinois. He then turned his attention chiefly to farming, and removed from Illinois to Kansas in 1866, settling near Baxter, in Cherokee County, where he was one of the original pioneers. He became prominent in the affairs of that section, where, in connection with agriculture, he carried on merchandising, and established one of the first stores in Baxter Springs. This he subsequently sold, and opened a similar institution at Checo, in the same county. Thence he removed to Jackson County, Mo., settling near Independence, where he lived until April, 1861, and then made his way to this county. Here, in Park Township, he pre-empted an odd quarter-section, which was claimed subsequently by a railway company, but which they were prevailed upon to relinquish. He homesteaded 160 acres, which he brought to a good state of cultivation, put up a comfortable residence and the out-buildings required, and here spent his last days, passing away when nearly fifty-six years of age. The faithful wife and mother is still living, and continues on the farm.

            Mr. Turner, of our sketch, pursued his education in the district schools of this State, mostly in Sedgwick County. On the 25th of December, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Pearson, who was a native of his own State, Illinois, and born in Cook County, Sept. 13, 1862. She was the second child in a family of seven, the offspring of Calvin and Sarah Ann (Holmes) Pearson, natives respectively of New Hampshire and New York. The young people located on their present homestead the second year of their marriage, Mr. Turner having purchased 111 acres, and that same year put up the residence and inaugurated the improvements which are now a point of attraction in that section of the country.

            In addition to general agriculture, Mr. Turner is building up quite a reputation as a stock-breeder, and makes a specialty of high-grade mules and cattle. He has been upon "the range," and has seen many a herd of buffaloes and numbers of genuine wild Indians, who had not yet been driven out by the advance of civilization. Mr. Turner and his friend, Mr. C. A. Duncan, were partners in running the first threshing-machine brought to Sedgwick County.

            Our subject, although not very active in politics, is an earnest supporter of Republican politics, and in 1887 officiated as Road Overseer. He is serving his third year as Senior Deacon in the Masonic lodge, at Valley Center. His family, like that of his parents, includes three bright boys, namely: Alvah Lewis, William Calvin and Allen. The two former are pursuing their studies in the district schools, and the latter is the baby at home.

[ Home ]