When I first caught the genealogy bug in college, it was easy to geek out with Grampy Phil, who had amassed an impressive amount of information about my mom’s side of the family. My dad’s side was trickier. No one living was interested in family history, and beyond the names of their grandparents, my dad and uncles didn’t have much information. I was able to get some information about their maternal side of the family, the Ladds, through my grandmother’s sister, Mildred Stanley, and her cousin, Bob Barton, but the information on their paternal side, the Turners, was sparse. Although they weren’t able to share too much in the way of anecdotes or family trees, my uncle let me borrow a book – one that had been passed down through several generations of our family. The soft-covered book is brittle and spotted with age, but Genealogy of the Descendants of Humphrey Turner compiled by Jacob Turner, Esq. proved to be an invaluable resource. It took about a year to find those couple of generations between where the book (published in 1852) ended and my known ancestors began, but once I made the connection, I had all of my Turners traced back to Humphrey Turner, my 10th great-grandfather. He was my first Turner ancestor to land in America, and he is the subject of week 7 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge.
Humphrey Turner, his wife Lydia (likely Gaymer/Gamor), and their first few children landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, around 1628. No one knows for certain where in England Humphrey was from, though it is believed that he was born between 1593 and 1595. Some sources say he was from Essex, some say Kent. Genealogy of the Descendants of Humphrey Turner even speculates that he may have been from Devonshire based on the number of Turners residing there at the time and similar naming traditions between those parish records and the names of Humphrey’s children. The name of the ship they travelled on is also unknown.
Many unknowns are at play here, but there are plenty of documented facts about Humphrey Turner. He was an industrious man -- a tanner by trade, and like everyone in those early colonies, a farmer by necessity. He initially settled in Plymouth. In The History of Scituate, the author, Rev. Samuel Deane says, “Humphrey Turner, tanner, arrived with his family in Plymouth, 1628. He had a house-lot assigned him, 1629, and erected a house and resided there until 1633, probably; the latter being the date of the laying of his house-lot on Kent street.” His original home likely was similar to those recreated at the living history museum, Plimoth Plantation. If you’ve never been and get a chance, I highly recommend it. It's like stepping back in time.
“Kent street” refers to his home in Scituate (pronounced SIT-chew-it), where Humphrey was one of the first settlers. According to the Scituate Historical Society, he “ was allotted the fourth house lot south of the stony (Satuit) brook where he built the sixth house constructed in Scituate; he also had a farm on the Driftway near Colman Hills." He was granted an additional 80 acres by the freemen of Scituate in 1636, and proceeded to open his tannery that same year.
Tanning was a difficult occupation and required both strength and skill. It took repeated soaking and scraping cycles over a period of months to tan a hide. The chemicals used smelled terrible and tanning pits were teeming with bacteria, making the job dangerous as the risk of infection was high. The wet hides were also heavy and difficult to handle. One obvious assumption we can make is Humphrey Turner was a physically strong man. I found reading about the tanning process interesting, but if I detail each step, this post will go on forever. Instead, if you'd like to know more about tanning, this post about tanning in historic Jamestowne is very informative.
In addition to being a tanner, Humphrey Turner was an active member of Scituate and had an impressive resume... or would if resumes were used back then. He was one of the seventeen original founders of the first church on January 8, 1634/5. He served as a Deputy for the General Court representing Scituate many times between 1640-1653. He served on the Grand jury, the Plymouth jury, and as Constable of Duxbury during various times between 1635-1639. On November 30, 1640, he was part of the Committee to Divide Lands in Scituate. He was Supervisor of Highways in Scituate in 1647 and 1648. He was also part of the Coroner's Jury on June 5, 1666 to investigate and rule on the strange death of Mary Totman. I wanted to know more about the case, and found this interesting blog post by one of Mary's descendents who is also doing the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. After reading all of Humphrey's accomplishments, I was left wondering if the man ever stopped.
Apparently not! He found time to father at least eight children, though that was probably an average number of kids for that time period. Humphrey and Lydia's children were:
John, born about 1621 in England. He married Mary Brewster, the granddaughter of William Brewster who came over on the Mayflower. Their daughter, Ruth, is my 8th great-grandmother. She married Thomas Prince. Their descendant, Mary Ivers Prince married Capt. Stephen Dumaresque Turner, my 4th great grandfather, who was a descendant of Thomas (#4), my direct Turner line.
John (known as “young John”) who was born around 1624 and married Ann James.
Lydia, born about 1630 in England. She married James Doughty.
Thomas, my ancestor, who was born between 1627-1632, and married Sarah Hiland/Hyland, the daughter of another Scituate town founder, Thomas Hyland.
Mary, born about 1634 in Scituate, married William Parker.
Joseph, born about 1636 in Scituate. Died after 1681, never married.
Nathaniel, born about 1638 in Scituate. Married Mehitable Rigby.
Daniel, born about 1641 in Scituate. Married Hannah Randall.
Humphrey's wife, Lydia, died sometime prior to the creation of Humphrey’s will in 1670, though not too long before as she's mentioned in a 1669 deed. His will was proved June 5, 1673. He left his farm to his eldest son, John and left 5 pounds to his other son, John the younger. Joseph was left 40 pounds, Daniel 12 pounds, Nathaniel 50 pounds and all of his livestock, his daughter Mary was left 10 pounds, his daughter Lydia Doughty was left 12 pounds. His son, Thomas, was left his clothing, one wooden bed, and blankets. His granddaughter Mary Doughty was left 10 pounds and his grandson Humphrey Turner was left 5 pounds. His grandchildren through his son John the elder, named in the will as Jonathan, Josiah, and Elizabeth, were given 10 shillings/year. If it seems somehow odd or unfair that his eldest son was left the farm, particularly given the incredible amount of land Humphrey owned, it’s not. He was fair. Between 1668 and 1669, he deeded large parcels of property (close to 30 acres each) to his other sons. His daughters didn't receive land, but that was common for that time.
It’s uncertain where Humphrey and Lydia are buried. There are two memorial stones for them, one is found in the Men of Kent Cemetery in Scituate, Massachusetts.
While not every Turner in the US can trace themselves back to Humphrey Turner, his descendants are spread throughout the country and include politicians, writers (Ernest Hemingway!) and actors/comedians such as Humphrey Bogart, Chevy Chase and Ellen DeGeneres. Humphrey was a hard-working, enterprising man and a true pioneer.
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