HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG1478.AM: Charles M. Turner, 1869-1957
Papers: 1903-1906, ca. 1954 and undated
Saline County and Jefferson County, Nebraska: Farmer, teacher
Size: Four items
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Charles M. Turner was born November 15, 1869 on a farm near Tonica, LaSalle County, Illinois. He was the son of Samuel F. Turner and Mary Grant Perry Turner. In 1876 the Turner family moved from Illinois to a farm in Saline County, Nebraska, four miles southwest of Wilber. Charles began his school days in a log cabin on the banks of Turkey Creek. In 1889 he graduated from the Wilber High School, then attended the Fremont Normal School to train as a teacher. From 1889 to 1903 he taught in country schools in both Gage and Saline Counties, and during this time met Teana C. Krauter, who became his wife on April 18, 1895. The couple settled two miles south of Wilber, where Charles farmed in the summer and taught school in the winter. The Turners had four children: William, Ralph, Samuel, and Mabel. In 1906 the family moved to a farm near Jansen, Jefferson County. Charles served on the School Board for 21 years, wrote articles about new methods and equipment in farming for the Fairbury Journal, and was actively involved in farming organizations in the area. On December 28, 1932, Teana died of burns she received when her apron caught fire on a stove. Charles continued to farm until a heart attack at the age of 80 forced him to retire. He moved in with his son, William, and wrote stories and family history as a hobby. He died on Sunday, January 6, 1957.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of four items arranged in two series: 1) Journal/account book, 1903-1906 and undated; and 2) Reminiscences, ca. 1954 and undated.
Series 1 consists of a Journal/account book, 1903-1906, kept by Charles and Teana Turner. A “Daily Doings” diary begins on January 1, 1903 and ends in February 1906. The entries are very brief, mostly a single line each. Other sections of the volume track various farm accounts, yearly inventories of machinery and animals, breeding records, etc. Charles also used the book, probably at a later date, to write reminiscences and family histories. Some of the stories are marked “copied,” others “left out,” so this volume may include material “left out” of the reminiscences in Series 2 [see below]. The volume contains information on the Turner, Perry, Haskins, and Krauter Families.
The reminiscences of Series 2 describe pioneer life in Saline and Gage Counties, Nebraska. Turner discusses early farming techniques and machinery, pioneer homes, schools, grasshoppers, prairie fires, blizzards, and the lives of family and friends. A handwritten volume, created ca. 1954, has been transcribed into a typed copy. As noted above, some of the stories in the reminiscences appear to have been written first in blank spaces in the Journal/accounts book of Series 1, then copied into this volume. Also present in this series is a ten-page reminiscence about moving to Nebraska and early days in Saline County.
Note: For further information about the Turner Family, see the Samuel F. Turner Collection [RG4205].
INVENTORY
Series 1 – Journal/Account Book, 1903-1906 and undated
Box 1
Folder
- Journal/Account book, 1903-1906, and undated
Series 2 – Reminiscences, ca. 1954 and undated
- Reminiscences, ca. 1954 [handwritten]
- Reminiscences, ca. 1954 [typescript]
- Reminiscences, undated [handwritten, 10 p.]
Subject headings:
Agricultural labor — Nebraska — Saline County
Agricultural machinery — Nebraska — Saline County
Agriculture — Nebraska
Education — Nebraska
Educators
Frontier and pioneer life — Nebraska
Gage County (Neb.) — History
Haskins Family
Homesteading
Krauter Family
Perry Family
Pioneers — Nebraska — Saline County
Saline County (Neb.) — History
Sod buildings — Nebraska
Storms — Nebraska — Saline County
Turner Family
KFK 09-17-1996
Kfk/dco 04-22-2003
Revised TMM 05-11-2007
Accession: 79-60; 85-30
