Biography - Daniel Turner
DANIEL TURNER, hotel-keeper at Parker City, Ill., was born in New York City in 1823. His father, Amaziah Turner, whose ancestors were among the first settlers from Holland on Manhattan Island, was a native of New York, born near Peekskill in 1804. The mother of Daniel Turner was Mary Ann Rossiter, of New York City, and a daughter of Timothy Rossiter and a Miss Schermerhorn, of Dutch nativity. The father of Daniel was a farmer on the Hudson, and was married in New York City, where he engaged in the grocery trade. He served on the police force for some years, and being a temperate man was for some years one of the emergency men. In the spring of 1836 he removed to Ohio, by steamer to Albany, by canal to Buffalo, and then by steamer to Toledo. He settled in Lucas County on wild Government land, making a permanent home on one hundred and twenty acres, which he cleared up and converted into a good farm. The playmates of Daniel were the little Indian boys, there being at that time but three white families within nine miles, and the nearest store and mill were twenty miles away, at Adrian, Mich. The parents of Daniel lived there until their death, the mother dying in 1853, about fifty years of age, and the father some years later, at the age of seventy-seven years. They left a family of six children, of whom our subject is now the only living son. His brother George died there at thirty years of age.
From the age of twelve to that of twenty-one years of age Daniel Turner was brought up at home on the farm, and at the age of twenty-two was married to Emeline Thorp, of Cherry Valley, N. Y., whose father was one of the early settlers in Ohio, going there some ten years after the Turners. Mrs. Turner died in early years of consumption, and her only child died soon afterward. Our subject was a regularly enlisted soldier in the carpenter corps, and was in the service one year, from 1862 to 1863. He went from Parrysburgh, Wood County, Ohio, where he served a regular apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, at which he has since worked most of his life. He was married the second time, to Parmelia Plummer, in 1847, near Little Falls, N. Y., while there on a visit, and brought his bride to Ohio. She lived ten years and bore him five children, three boys and two girls, of whom one of the former and two of the latter are still living, namely: Philemon, Eliza and Lucy. Philemon has been a railroad man at Port Clinton on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad for the past two years. He served in the War of the Rebellion during the entire struggle, and came out as Orderly to his Colonel in the cavalry. Eliza is the wife of Rory Moahler, of Ohio, and Lucy is the wife of David Ensminger, of Ohio. The mother of these children died in 1857, at the age of thirty years. Some time after Mr. Turner was married to Mrs. Martha Earls, nee Pike, of Dinwiddie County, Va. They were married in Cheatham County, Tenn., in 1870. They have had two children, one of whom, a daughter, is deceased, and the son, Louis F., is now a young man of twenty-one years of age. He has recently married Miss Mary Akin, of Nashville, Ill.
Our subject went from Ohio to Missouri in 1867, and from that State he came to Illinois in 1872. He worked at the trade of a carpenter most of the time he lived in Missouri, living in Dutchtown, Cape Girardeau County. He has lived at Tunnel Hill eighteen years, and during that time has been engaged in farming, hotel-keeping and building. He built a part of his large hotel in the fall of 1890, and on November of that year, the anniversary of his birth, he gave a house-warming and a fine dinner as an opening, His house is 32x64 feet in size, is two full stories in height, and has twenty-foot posts. This house is at the junction of two railroads, called Parker City, where he feeds many hungry travelers, serving two dinners every day in the year. He has a wide reputation as a first-class landlord, and has built up a good trade.
Mr. Turner is a loyal Republican in politics. While he has never been in robust health, he has held his own remarkably well, considering the varied career he has experienced. He spent three winters in Florida for the benefit of his health, and recently sold his hotel at Tunnel Hill and removed to this township.
In religious affairs our subject is an active member of the Christian Church of New Burnside, to which he contributes liberally, and exerts his influence. He has attained his success in life by his own industry, and great credit is due him for his perseverance, economy and thrift, as well as his good management.
Extracted 08 May 2002 by Rick Girtman from 1893 Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope, and Hardin Counties, Illinois, pages 347-348.
