My Genealogy Hound

James Turtle, farmer, was born on April 10, 1821, in Knox County, Ky. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Logan) Turtle, were natives of Virginia, and came to Kentucky when they were children. They were married in Knox County, and in 1843 came to Clark County, Mo., and soon after located in Scotland County, where they entered a tract of land. The mother died in 1854, and the father re-married, and lived on the same place until 1869, when, after the death of his second wife, he came to live with our subject, and died almost immediately after. Our subject was educated in his native county, and at the age of eighteen was married, and began farming independently. He came West with his parents, and settled on his present estate. The money with which our subject expected to enter land was nearly lost. The father had it in his saddle-bags at the time he made an almost fatal attempt to cross the Wyaconda River, but the lost bags were recovered by our subject’s brother-in-law, who dived in the river for them. Our subject’s wife, Matilda Moore, was born in 1820, in Knox County, Ky., and married April 4, 1849. Her death occurred April 22, 1853. Four of their six children are living. He next married, on January 7, 1854, Elizabeth, the widow of William Marlow, and daughter of James Ripper. She was born in Kentucky, June 15, 1815, and came to Missouri when a child. Her first husband was James Brown, deceased, and her second husband, above mentioned, is also deceased. Our subject is a self-made man, and, after a life of labor, has acquired 300 acres of fine land, mostly improved. He first voted for Harrison, and has since been an active supporter of the Democratic party. His wife is a Baptist. He has been afflicted with ill health considerably, and his first dose of medicine was given by Dr. S. F. Miller, then of Kentucky, but now a judge of the United States Supreme Court.