Headstones
Over the years, the Theodore Turley Family Organization has occasionally raised funds to provide headstones for family members in unmarked graves. If you know of an unmarked family grave that needs a headstone, or have an idea for a different special project of significance to Theodore Turley descendants, please let us know.
Go to Theodore Turley headstone project in Beaver, Utah, placed 1997. This headstone also memorializes Theodore’s wife, Ruth Jane Giles, and three grandchildren.
Go to Mary Clift Turley and Alvin Hope Turley dual headstones project in Salt Lake City, Utah, placed 2016.
Go to Ann Smith Tolton headstone project in Salt Lake City, Utah, placed 2019.
Theodore Turley Headstone
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, Beaver, Beaver County, Utah
Project begun: January 1997
Headstone placed: August 1997
Project head: Milton S. Turley
Description (from various Theodore Turley Family Newsletters):
Historical opportunities such as the one we had in Beaver are rare. It was indeed a thrill for me to be a part of placing a headstone at the grave of Theodore Turley in the Beaver Cemetary [sic]. I’ll never forget the scene, over 200 of his descendants, the children kneeling or sitting around the circle in front of us, observing with a quite [sic] hush as workers prepared the monument. Then, reverently, Milton Turley, the Headstone Committee Chairman, stepped forward and dedicated the headstone and spot to help future descendants and friends to remember Theodore Turley.
It was a sweet and precious opportunity for me to meet so many of you. I regret not having more time to visit with each of you. You all brought such a wonderful spirit. My only regret is I didn’t get to meet everyone there. We expected about 135 but Tom Bartlett, who prepared the meal, estimated we had about 225. What a wonderful family to be a part of.
jay turley, September 1997 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 1
My husband, John Heward, and I had been to the Beaver Utah Cemetery three times and had walked from one end to the other. We could not find one Turley grave so we went to the City Hall to see if they might have some record of the graves there. We found that they didn’t have anything that early and were told that when the Court House burned a lot of records were destroyed. We told thom what we were looking for and were told that near a fence on one end of the cemetery was a bottom of a headstone. The lady told us that when she was growing up and used to go to the cemetery that there was a top on that stone. We then went back to the cenetery.
We started on the wrong end of the cemetery with John taking one side and me the other. We walked slowly and looked at every headstone along the way. Finally I got to the little road the lady had told us about and sure enough there was what looked like the bottom of a headstone. I felt so sad that I said outloud, “Grandpa Turley, we have looked everywhere for you. Where are you?” Then a voice came into my mind so plain that I was startled. It said, “You have found me. This is me.”
I called to my husband to please come to me. He did and he said I looked as pale as a ghost and as if I might faint. I told him what had happened and he.said, “Okay, we will tell the family of your experience and maybe it will help them in trying to get a marker made and put up for him.”
We have been back a couple of times since that time and when I stand in that special place I can still get goose bumps just thinking about my experience. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. [Signature of Beulah Heward]
NOTE: The experience of Beulah T. Heward together with surveys made by the city and all the information available have determined where the headstone will be placed.
Beaulah Heward, May 1997 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 16
Ivan Turley’s grandson, Tom Bartlett, moved to Beaver…. This Tom Bartlett, who was a Stake Clerk at the time they were trying to locate Theodore Turley’s gravesite in order to place a “FAITH IN EVERY FOOTSTEP” headstone, was a huge help to the committee and to my brother [Milton S. Turley] in getting ready for the event. He worked with the mayor, looked into records, etc. In the particular plot, they knew one person of the 6 buried there was a MARY WANT. She had been a caretaker for Theodore Turley at the end of his life. When Tom Bartlett shared with the mayor of Beaver the story of Beulah and John Heward, the mayor directed them to place the commemorative headstone on the plot and they didn’t have to pay for the plot. Milton said he worked with a very elderly woman from Beaver, a Sister Tanner, and also a Sister Yardley helped as they worked on this project. Sister Tanner remembered seeing a headstone for Theodore Turley and Ruth Ann Giles as a girl, but said it had toppled over and been destroyed. These wonderful women have since passed away. Bro Yardley still alive, but very elderly.
Christine Smith, March 2017 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter
Directions: Access the main entrance of the cemetery heading east on 400 North in Beaver, turning north at approximately 500 East. Walk eastward through the gate and continue foward until you reach the first intersection, then turn right (south ) and walk along the road. The headstone is located near the chain link fence, on the west side of the road. (Alternately, you can access the cemetery from 600 North, driving south into the first cemetery entrance and continuing straight down that road until you get close to the chain-link fence.)
Mary Clift Turley & Alvin Hope Turley Headstones
Location: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah
Project begun: October 2013
Headstones placed: Summer 2016
Project head: Mary Ann Clements
Description (from various Theodore Turley Family Newsletters):
On a recent research trip to the Salt Lake City Cemetery, Richard E. Turley, Jr., noted that there was no grave marker for Mary Clift Turley, Theodore Turley’s second wife, at her burial place. It was proposed at the October 2013 TTFO leadership meeting that the organization could raise the funds for a headstone to be placed on her grave.
Mary Ann Clements, February 2014 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 10
At the October 2013 TTFO meeting the topic of Mary Clift Turley’s unmarked grave was raised and members decided it would be consistent with the purposes of the TTFO to raise funds for a headstone. In the process of establishing plans for that project it was discovered that a teenage son of Theodore Turley, Alvin Hope Turley, was also buried in an unmarked grave next to Mary Clift Turley. In the April 2014 TTFO meeting the expansion of the project was approved to include funds for Alvin’s headstone.
Mary Ann Clements, March 2015 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 15
Thank-you to everyone who donated for the Turley headstones! We were able to raise the necessary $1,300 to install headstones for two previously unmarked Turley graves in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. One is for a plural wife of Theodore, Mary Clift Turley, and the other is for Theodore’s son with Ruth Jane Giles, Alvin Hope Turley. If you are visiting the Salt Lake Cemetery, we hope that you will stop by and see the new additions honoring members of Theodore’s family.
March 2017 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 16
Directions: The Salt Lake City Cemetery has its own grid system, and the Turley graves are located just SW of the intersection at 280 North and Center Street Once through the main entrance, continue north on Main Street and take a right at 280 North. Park at the large trees just before you get to Center Street. From there, walk directly south about 30 feet.
Ann Smith Tolton Headstone
Location: Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah
Project begun: March 2017
Headstone placed: May 2019
Project head: David Roche Turley, II
Description (from the March 2017 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter):
To my wonderful extended family,
I spend a great deal of time in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Aside from the numerous famous and infamous individuals buried there I personally have a host of ancestors. One of my ancestors, Ann (Smith) Tolton, is buried there. She is my great-great-great-great-great Grandmother. As I searched for the location of her grave I discovered that her plot was not marked with a headstone. With the help of the front office I was able to find the exact location of her plot and would now like to begin the process of placing a marker/headstone there.Isaac Turley, son of Theodore and Frances… (Kimberley) Turley, married Clara Ann Tolton, Ann (Smith) Tolton’s granddaughter. While Ann is not a direct relative to you all as she is to me and many of your fellow readers, her connection to the Turley’s makes this an advantageous avenue to raise funds for her headstone.
The leadership of the Theodore Turley Family Organization has allowed me to request this via the newsletter as well as use their non-profit status to make any donations tax deductible. All donations for this project should be marked specifically for this cause. No other funds previously donated to the organization will be used. Any excess, if there is any, will be used for future projects.
We are seeking $650 to cover the costs of a permit to place the headstone, a headstone, and installation. If all of her descendants donated $1.00 each we would have enough to place this marker multiple times over. Any donation is gratefully accepted. To start the donations I am pledging $50.00 here. 11 March 2018 marks the 150 year anniversary of her death. From what I can tell from the records she was very poor at the time of her death. She was buried in a gifted 1/2 portion of a plot. I would like her to have a marker prior to this anniversary to thank her for the pathway she opened for her posterity.
David Turley, March 2017 Theodore Turley Family Newsletter, p. 18-19
Directions: The Salt Lake City Cemetery has its own grid system, and Ann Smith Tolton’s grave is located just SE of the intersection at 250 North and Main Street. Once through the main entrance, continue north on Main Street and take a right at 250 North. From there, walk directly south about 20 feet. The flat Tolton gravestone is located directly east of the Samuel Ensign obelisk, under a large tree.
