Martha
(Leonard) Turney
(1851-1928)
Martha (Leonard) Turney was born on Aug. 19, 1851 at Meadow Run near Ohiopyle, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Harbaugh) Leonard.
On the Fourth of July 1870, at Ohiopyle, Martha married Daniel
Turney ( ? -1901). They had eight children, of whom five are known -- Mollie Kauffman, G. Benjamin Turney,
Sally Steadman, Clyde Ellsworth Turney and Albert F.
Turney.
The Turneys resided in Uniontown, Fayette County, on South Beeson Avenue. Virtually nothing of their adult lives is known.
Seen
here is a rare old photographic postcard of Uniontown, showing a bird's eye
view of Morgantown Street.
Sadly, "while sitting in a chair," Daniel passed away suddenly on Sunday, Nov. 10, 1901. Said the Uniontown Daily News Standard, "His death was very unexpected." His burial site is unknown.
Martha survived him by more than a quarter-century. Later in life, she moved into the home of her son Clyde in South Connellsville, Fayette County. Said the Connellsville Daily Courier, she "was a devout Christian and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for 63 years. She [was] affiliated with the First Church of Connellsville for about 20 years and was a member of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society and the Ladies Aid Society."
During World War I, Martha watched sons Clyde and Albert serve in the Armed Forces, Albert with the Mech., Co. D, of the 110th Infantry, 28th Division.
On the morning of Sept. 4, 1928, Martha passed
away at son Clyde's home in South Connellsville at the age of 77. The Daily Courier said she
"was the last surviving member of a family of 12 children." She was
laid to rest at Connellsville's Hill Grove Cemetery, and among her survivors
were 19 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
In 1928, daughter Mollie resided in Connellsville; son Benjamin in Ohiopyle; daughter Sallie (wife of J.B. Steadman) in Rochester, Beaver County; and son Albert in Connellsville.
Daughter Sally Turney (1884-1949) was born in Farmington, Fayette County. She married J.B. Steadman. They lived in Uniontown and Connellsville before migrating to Rochester, Beaver County, PA. They made their home in Rochester at 290 Clay Street. J.B. was seriously ill circa 1931 and was admitted to a local sanitarium. A Connellsville Daily Courier article dated Oct. 29, 1931 stated that "Mrs. J.W. Kincell and son, Alfred, Mrs. J.V. Cunningham of Woodlawn avenue, Emmett Piper of Wheeler and Charles O'Neal of South Connellsville motored to Rochester, Pa., ... to visit with J.B. Steadman, who is a patient at the Beaver County Sanitarium. Mr. Steadman's condition is unimproved, it was said." His fate is unknown. Sally died at home at the age of 65 on Feb. 2, 1949.
Daughter Mollie Turney (1869-1951) married (?) Kaufmann. They lived at 308 East Green Street in Connellsville. Mollie died at the age of 82 in April 1951. Burial was in Hill Grove Cemetery. Her husband's life story is not known.
Son Albert F. Turney (1890-1953) was born at Uniontown. He married Emma G. (?) (1898-1953). They had a son, James Turney. Albert was a member of Dawson American Legion Post 483, Walter E. Brown VFW Post 21, Society of the 28th Division and Fayette County Voiture, Forty and Eight. Emma belonged to the Dawson American Legion Auxiliary, Connellsville VFW Auxiliary, Vanderbilt Women of the Moose ant the First Presbyterian Church. In October 1942, Albert was elected commander of the Newmyer Post of the American Legion in Dawson. They resided at 400 East Crawford Avenue in Connellsville. Sadly, Emma died on Nov. 29, 1953 at the age of 55 at Connellsville State Hospital, following an illness of two months. Albert went to live with son James on Railroad Street in Dawson, Fayette County. Just a few weeks later, at age 63, Albert died in his son's home. Burial was at Hill Grove Cemetery.
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The busy railroad yards at Dickerson Run near Dawson, where Clyde Turney labored for decades |
Son Clyde Ellsworth Turney (1887-1961)
served in the military during World War I. He married
Rose Lee Stillwagon (1892-1981). They had 20 children, of whom 17 lived to adulthood --
Benjamin Turney, Melvin Turney, Robert Turney, Theodore Turney, Paul Turney,
George Turney, Marie Turney, Evelyn Cross, Helen Woodrick, Kathryn Grimm, Martha
Colburn, Beatrice Richter, Carrie Mae Aller, Mary Ann King, Shirley Ann Kozal,
Pauline Anderson, and Orville Turney. Clyde "was a member of the First
Methodist church and a roundhouse foreman for the Pennsylvania and Lake Erie
Railroad at Dickerson Run for 35 years, retiring in 1953," said the Connellsville
Daily Courier. Clyde passed away at the age of 73 on Jan. 29, 1961. He was
laid to rest in Hill Grove Cemetery. At the time, he and Rose Lee had 42
grandchildren. Rose Lee outlived her husband by two decades. She died at the age
of 89 in 1981, and was buried beside her husband at Hill Grove.
During World War II, grandson Orville Turney
(1925-1944) was
killed in action in Anzio, Italy. He is one of many extended cousins to lose
their lives in the service of their nation during
wartime. His remains were returned to Connellsville from Europe in August
1948, for burial at Hill Grove Cemetery. (His grave marker is seen here.)
Prior to the war, he was employed by
Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation in Connellsville. He joined the Army in April
1943, and took basic training at Fort McClellan, AL, going overseas in
September 1943 as a member of Company E, Seventh Infantry Division. His death
occurred on May 23, 1944, just a few weeks before D-Day.
Grandson Benjamin R. Turney (1909-1973) was "an engineer employed by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad since 1941, and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Loyal Order Of Moose," said the Connellsville Daily Courier. "He had lived in South Connellsville for many years. He was a member of Wesley United Methodist church and its Men's Bible Class." He never married. He died at the age of 63 on May 8, 1973.
Martha and Daniel are mentioned in the Cooperriders' 1947 book, Harbaugh History. We hope to learn more about their lives someday.
Copyright © 2001, 2003-2004, 2006-2008 Mark A. Miner