I am looking for information on William Turnidge/Turnage, specifically a listing of his wife and children. He may have been married to Martha Fletcher. He was a pastor in Ray County for many years and I was surprised to find that there is no actual bio of his in the 1881 Ray County history, although his name is peppered throughout. Thank you in advance for your help!

Heather,

I am a descendant of William Turnage and Martha Fletcher. I am still working my way towards them, as I want to document the trail correctly. I do have documents to prove that he is his my 4th great grandfather though.

I would like to correspond with you about this family connection.

Debbie
tomdeb at oip . net

I'm not sure if this the same William Turnage you're looking for; I think there might have been several in the area. But there is one that was born March 30, 1854 and died March 17, 1938 that was married to a Lydia Ann Turnage (I don't know if he was married more then once). But his death certificate lists him as being a "retired baptist minister".

He died in nearby DeKalb County, Missouri but was born in Ray County. I don't have a lot of info on him as I've mainly been focusing on his brother and sister-in-law's family (Edwin M Turnage and Jane Francis McGaugh both originally from Ray County).

But his brother Edwin spent his later life in DeKalb County; so possibly William did the same and is why you're not finding as much information in Ray County.

But William's death certificate is available at the missouri state archives website (along with several other William Turnage's in case you haven't been to that site).

Those two brothers are the sons of Jesse Turnage and Ester O'Dell Turnage.

Also if you're looking for info on the Elder William Turnage of the "Crooked River Baptist Church"; a genaration or two older than the above referenced Turnage's but probably related. I can direct you to some of the records of that Church; that I managed to find in search of my McGaugh ancestors.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I am interested in the Elder William Turnage. I descend from Jesse C. through his son John. I have found very little information on William Turnage (the elder) despite the fact that he seems to have married many people in Ray County and been a pastor there for many, many years. I recently came across the book The Trail Blazers by Martha Alice Turnidge Hamot which illuminates William a little bit. But other than her book I haven't found any concrete evidence of who William's children were. Any evidence you may be able to direct me to would be wonderful! And the McGaugh name is very familiar to me...it isn't in my tree so I must have just come across it in my research. I'll have to reference my files again to figure that one out.

Now I don't know much about Elder William Turnage's immediate family. But if you're interested in his church records you might contact the Allen County Library their web site is http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/ . For a small charge they made a copy, and mailed to me "Crooked River Primitive Baptist Church of Rayville, Ray County, Missouri: Church Minute Books I and II" Abstracted by Pauline E. Brown. This article (which is about 25 pages) is contained in Series 2, Volume 196 of the Missouri DAR Genealogical Records Committee Report: Ray County, Missouri Records. By the Allen-Morton-Watkins Chapter of Richmond.

Once you have the abstract, I you can order copies of the original records you're interested in from the William Jewell College Library; if you want any originals (or want to see them in person).

William is listed many times in these records; although mostly fairly mundane such as "Dec. 1852 Appoint Wm. Turnage, Samuel Colley with clerk to examine church book and report..."

What's more interesting, now that I'm pulling the abstract back out; I think the church might have split just after the Civil War when they were requiring oaths of allegiance. There's not a date to this "page" but the next page with a date is for "Aug 1866". The abstract reads:

"Explanation of reason for separating from a portion of the church members. The "TEST OATH" was passed by the new state constitution. New Garden Church had assigned Elder Isaac Odell and James Duval for refusing to take the oath. Crooked River Church proposed inviting them into their pulpit. Elder William Turnage, as acting moderator, refused to put the question to the chruch. A quarrel resulted and they sent delagates to the Association appealing to be sustained. The former clerk left the removed congregation taking the church book with records for some 40 years".

I think the clerk they refer to is William Turnage and he left the church at that point, as he doesn't seem to be referenced after that (but is on most pages prior to that). The minutes go from 1846-1876. I'm not sure what chruch if any William went to at that point.

The McGaugh's are probably familiar to you, as they were quite a few of them in the Ray County area (particularly near Rayville area where I think there were a lot of Turnage's). The McGaugh's were also at the Crooked River Baptist Church: ironically the primary McGaugh I'm following (John A McGaugh) was expelled from the church in 1873 for non attendance. Also based upon what you said it sounds like William's grandson Edwin Turnage (who is also a son of Jesse) married a McGaugh.

Hope this helps and is of interest.

Thank you very much for posting how to obtain the church transcripts from the Allen County Library for Elder William Turnage!

I am descended from William Turnage and his first wife Martha Fletcher through their daughter Mary Ellender Turnage Shirley and her husband Henry V. Shirley. Mary came out to Idaho about 1885, where her daughter Mattie Shirley Givens Yanke lived, she died in Owyhee County in 18 May 1910. Almost 100 years ago. I descend from Henry and Mary's daughter Eliza Jane Shirley Smith Patton Price Johnson. She never made it any further west than Kansas.

Your tip is invaluable!

Thank you,

Debbie in Oregon

You're welcome!