Turner family immortalized in stone
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No doubt about it, finding out about one’s family history has become a passion for many in this country. But while some become virtually fanatic about the pursuit of their genealogy, others become involved almost out of necessity. They simply don’t want to see their ancestors neglected and forgotten, their remains unmarked and lost to the encroachment of modern society.
That’s why Warren County native, and county commissioner, Bobby Turner, has been working for several years to accurately identify and mark the burial sites of his grandparents, Isaac and Ebbie Turner.
He recently accomplished that goal by purchasing and placing a tombstone, made by Mullican Monument Co., at their graves.
There is a somewhat unusual aspect to Turner’s search, however. During his research he confirmed he had Native American heritage. He has been told his grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee and that his grandfather also had some Native American blood.
Turner’s story began when he was working near the graveyard at Wilson’s Chapel. While taking a break at the churchyard nearby he suddenly recalled being brought there as a child by his father to visit his grandparent’s graves.
“I’d been here twice as a kid,” Turner said. “But I actually forgot about it until I was running a grader in the area. I ate lunch here while I was running the grader one day and I said, ‘My goodness, my grandmother and grandfather are buried there.’ And that’s when I started to work on trying to find out who I needed to see to set up a tombstone. This was back about ’96 or ’97, something like that.
“So it’s taken me about six or eight years to get permission and everything for this,” Turner said.
Turner was concerned because the driveway and parking lot for the new church was getting close to the plots where he recalled his grandparents graves were located.
“I’m happy that I got this done because you can see where the cars have been parking,” Turner said. “It’s within a foot.
“It’s an old cemetery,” Turner added, noting other members of his family are buried there, including one of his grandfather’s sons by his second wife. Turner actually contacted a relative to confirm he had the correct location.
“I had a first cousin still living,” Turner said. “He was in Arizona and I waited four months for him to come in and he verified it. His name is Floyd Turner. He’s probably in his 80s. There’s just him and me, that’s all there is left.”
Another unique aspect of Turner’s grandparents is his grandmother’s full name, of which there were several, as it turns out.
“My grandfather’s name was Isaac Haywood,” Turner said, “and my grandmother’s was Ebbie Nancy Julia Ann Caldore Clemintine Turner. Five first names. She had all these names, and that kind of threw me. None of them were Indian names.”
Turner never knew his grandparents. They passed away in the 1800s and he wasn’t born until 1936, but he says he is proud of his heritage, and felt it was up to him to preserve their memory.
“I just felt like I was the last one and it had to be done,” Turner said. “That’s all there was to it.
“And I feel good about it,” he added, looking at the tombstone as a big smile spread across his face. “I don’t know why, but I really feel good about doing that.”