We have some great content on the Theodore Turley Family Organization website, but there is so much more to add! Below is our website changelog, a running list of additions and updates to the website.
2022
March
- Mar. 18: Published blog post “Did Theodore Turley Make Dies for Gold Coins in Utah?” Added info and citations about the Turley family likely being enumerated with other California-bound Latter-day Saints sometime between 18 March 1851 and 23 March 1851 for the 1850 U.S. federal census on the Timeline page.
- Mar. 15: Added Alan Turley (1946-2022) to the In Memoriam page. Published 2017 Ontario Church History Conference page. Added link for that page to Events and Churchville, Ontario, pages. Updated the What Can I Do? page to remove request for help with transcribing the 2017 dedicatory prayer at Churchville. That’s done!
2021
November
- Nov. 8: Added Robert Hugh Anderson (1926-2021) to the In Memoriam page.
- Nov. 7: Published blog post “Minutes from Fall 2021 TTFO Meeting.” Added link to minutes on Events and Semi-Annual Meetings pages under semi-annual meeting for October 9, 2021. Added obituaries of LuAnn Wickham (1961-2020), Bruce Albert Wickham (1975-2021), and Mark Thomas Wickham (1959-2021) to the In Memoriam page.
October
- Oct. 31: Corrected birth years of several children for Mary Ann Turley and John Cook. Added footnotes on the kids I couldn’t verify through historical records. Corrected names of spouses for some of the adult kids. Also updated the Grandchildren page with the newer info for Mary Ann’s kids.
- Oct. 30: Added newspaper accounts of John Cook’s 1883 death to Mary Ann Turley‘s page. Information from those articles helped us figure out John Cook’s likely connection to the Cook family of Mottville Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, who moved there from the Mohawk Valley in New York.
- Oct. 26-29: Published St. Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham page. Published Nauvoo Temple page. Added respective links to Places page.
Oct. 24-25: Added info to Timeline about the August 1840 baptism of Theodore Turley’s little sister, Charlotte Turley, from the John Needham journal. Published St. Paul’s Church, Birmingham page and updated several elements on the Places page. Added a couple sibling marriages to the St. Peter’s Church, Harborne page. - Oct. 23: Added The Black Country (West Midlands) and The Potteries (Staffordshire) to the Places page. These are the places where Theodore Turley spent the bulk of his time proselyting on his mission to England. Also added quick sentence about Theodore’s visit to Kirtland in 1839 en route to his mission on that page.
- Oct. 19: Added signature to Frances Kimberley page. Updated Cedar City place page with photo of historical markers from Visit Cedar City website. Also added some timeline facts to the Cedar City page. Add Birmingham and London churches to the Places page. Published St. Peter’s Church, Harborne page and added link on Places page.
- Oct. 16: Added info for our next TTFO meeting (March 26, 2022 @ 10am) on the Events and Semi-Annual Meetings pages. Removed info about any planned speaker at the next birthday commemoration/TTFO temple and family history day event since we don’t know if that will occur (it’s already been postponed a couple times due to Covid). Per the discussion at our recent meeting on October 9th, I’ve replaced the TTFO Logo with the correct founding date (“Est. 1959”) on the Home and About Us pages.
- Oct. 14: Added link to Richard E. Turley, Sr.’s obituary to the In Memoriam page. Added blurb about William Turley’s military service on Theodore Turley’s Parents and Siblings page. Also corrected William Turley’s death date on the same page. The record of monumental inscriptions at St. Paul’s Church in Birmingham indicates that William died on April 6, 1841. Previously I had his death date as April 7th based on the newspaper notice of his death (published Monday, April 12th) saying that he died the Wednesday before. In weighing the newspaper versus headstone, I’ve gone with the information on the headstone.
- Oct. 10: Published blog post “Former TTFO President Richard E. Turley, Sr., Passes Away.”
- Oct. 9: Added family member Kathryn Romans (1927-2021) to the In Memoriam page.
- Oct. 3: Added family member Walter Rawleigh Pyper (1938-2021) to the In Memoriam page.
- Oct. 2: Added link to scanned PDF of the August 1996 TTFO newsletter to the Newsletter Archive page. WE NOW HAVE A COMPLETE DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF ALL KNOWN TTFO NEWSLETTERS!!
September
- Sep. 27: Added fifty-one family members to the In Memoriam page.
- Sep. 26: Added seventeen family members to the In Memoriam page.
- Sep. 22: Added twenty-nine family members to the In Memoriam page.
July
- Jul. 20: Created new page “What Can I Do?” and added links to “About Us” page and menu. Added items from Caroline Barnes Crosby diary to Theodore’s Timeline. These relate to Theodore’s years in California (1855-1857). Corrected some minor errors on timeline.
- Jul. 17: Added many items from Amasa M. Lyman’s diary to Theodore’s Timeline. These items regarded Theodore’s later years in San Bernardino, Minersville, and Beaver. The diary entries include Theodore’s stay with Amasa Lyman in Salt Lake City from 7 January 1871 to 3 March 1871 to receive medical care for his mouth cancer.
- Jul. 15-16: Created children pages (still very basic) for the rest of the children of Theodore’s wives. Each page has the best current documentation for birth & death dates. New pages include Frances Amelia Turley, Mary Ann Turley, Frederick Turley, Sarah Elizabeth Turley, Isaac Turley, Charlotte Turley, Frances Kimberley Turley, Congreve Clift Selwyn, George Augustus Selwyn, Henrietta Fidler, Emma Georgianna Fidler, Joseph Orson Turley, and Jacob Omner Turley. Added links to these child pages on the Pioneer Sketches page, Children page, Grandchildren page, and various Wives pages. Also added links to these child pages on the Timeline page.
- Jul. 13: Added “Pioneer Sketches, Family Heirlooms, and More: Updates and New Content on the Website!” blog post.
- Jul. 12: Created Church of England Records page and added link to Historical Documents page. Created Missing Family Heirlooms page and added link and description to Family Treasures page. Rearranged Family Treasures page to give headings to each collection name rather than item type.
- Jul. 10: Many changes.
- (Done on 10 June, added to changelog on 12 June): Added sources to Life Sketch page. Corrected and changed several items.
- I couldn’t find any sources to confirm that Theodore was a city treasurer in San Bernardino, so I replaced that item with being on the library association board of directors.
- I couldn’t find a reference to Theodore being the “president” of the high council. He was in the #1 spot, and Leo Lyman refers to him as a “senior” councilman in his book on San Bernardino, but I went ahead and just changed it to Theodore being a member of the high council.
- I’d accidentally written that Theodore built his Nauvoo home in June 1839, so I changed that to just 1839. (I found a 1854 newspaper version of History of the Church that states Theodore commenced building his house in May 1839. Rick Turley believes the house was completed around 18 July 1839, since that’s when James Mulholland recorded moving into the Turley home. See 11: The First House Built By a Saint in Nauvoo.)
- I’d had that Theodore was excommunicated on 14 June 1870, but I changed that to just June 1870. I have a letter published in the Mormon Tribune (now Salt Lake Tribune) from Robert Kershaw that states Theodore was excommunicated on 12 June 1870 (I quoted it in the Timeline page). The official notice from William Fotheringham published in the Deseret News was dated 14 June 1870.
- Added new items to the Historical Documents page, including one to a March 1871 letter from Theodore Turley to Louisa M. Lyman and several links to Far West Committee records from 1838 and 1839. Also added link to Theodore’s 1843 brewery advertisement in Nauvoo.
- Cleaned up and simplified several menus, especially the “Theodore Turley” menu. Deleted menu links to Theodore’s Photo page and Theodore Turley Papers page (put those links in the list of Historical Documents).
- Updated the Theodore Turley page with descriptions and links to Historical Documents, Places, and Timeline.
- Deleted two redundant pages, “Who was Theodore Turley?” and “Table of Contents,” and added redirects to Theodore Turley and Theodore Turley: A Biography by Richard E. Turley, Jr., respectively.
- Removed nested links to individual installments of Theodore Turley: A Biography by Richard E. Turley, Jr. in the menu for Theodore Turley.
- Removed nested links for individual historical documents in the menu for Theodore Turley.
- Removed nested links to Life Sketch, Theodore’s Autobiography, and Theodore Turley Biography by Ella Mae Judd from menu for Theodore Turley. Placed Life Sketch in menu for Theodore Turley.
- Removed nested links to individual children in the menu for Theodore’s Family.
- Added brief descriptions to locations on the Places page.
- (Done on 10 June, added to changelog on 12 June): Added sources to Life Sketch page. Corrected and changed several items.
- Jul. 5: Added “Setting the Record Straight: Frances Kimberley vs. Frances Amelia Kimberley” blog post. Added child page for Johnathan Turley. Updated various pages to include links to Johnathan Turley child page (Timeline, Frances Kimberley, Children, Grandchildren). Also added Johnathan Turley to menu under Theodore’s Family–>Children–>Johnathan Turley.
- Jul. 2: Added “April 10th TTFO Meeting Minutes” blog post. Updated Events and Semi-Annual Meetings pages with links to April 2021 meeting notes and information about October 2021 semi-annual meeting (Saturday, October 9, 2021 @ 10am on Zoom).
- Jul. 1: Finished life sketch for Eliza Clift. Added timeline and important places for Frances Kimberley. Replaced “Frances Amelia Kimberley” with “Frances Kimberley” on all current aspects of website. (I kept the original wording when it was a quote.) It appears that historical records do not support the longtime belief that Frances Kimberley’s middle name was “Amelia.” The middle name does not occur on Frances’ christening, marriage, death, or (reliable) Latter-day Saint temple records. The only historical mention I saw was in the typescript of Theodore Turley’s 1840 autobiography where Theodore refers to his wife “Frances Amelia,” but that record is known to contain other errors. (Many historical records confirm that Theodore and Frances named their second child, born 1 Jan. 1825, Frances Amelia Turley.)
June
- Jun. 30: Added newly uncovered information about Sarah Ellen Clift’s land ownership in Nauvoo to her life sketch and timeline.
- Jun. 25: Published Pioneer Sketches page and added it to the Resources page and navigational menu.
- Jun. 19: Updated Resources page with descriptions and links for The Theodore Turley Family book, Family Treasures, and Other Books and Websites.
April
- Apr. 21-22: Added 25 family members to the In Memoriam page.
March
- Mar. 23: Added life sketch to Mary Clift page.
Mar. 22: Added timeline and life sketch to Sarah Ellen Clift page. Added child pages for Princetta Turley (1845-1846), Joseph Smith Turley (1846-1847), and Hyrum Smith Turley (1846-1847) with life sketches, timelines, and important places lists. - Mar. 20: Added timeline to Mary Clift page. Added child pages for Jason L. Clift (1842-1843), Ephraim Turley (1845-1845), and Theodoreus Turley (1848-1848) with life sketches, timelines, and important places lists.
Mar. 19: Added child page for Alvin Hope Turley (1855-1872) with life sketch, timeline, and important places list. - Mar. 15: Added numbered sections and html anchors to Theodore Turley’s Timeline for easier navigation. Added overviews of wives, children, grandchildren, parents & siblings, and ancestry to Theodore’s Family page. Added basic William Turley and Elizabeth Yates family info to Parents and Siblings page & associated timeline (births, deaths, christenings, etc.). Added brief description of future plans for Ancestry page.
- Mar. 13: Added child page for Theodore Turley, Jr. (1822-1837) with life sketch, timeline, and important places list. Added child page for Obia Turley (1834-1834) with life sketch, timeline, and important places list. Added Places page and related pages for Churchville, Ontario, and Cedar City, Utah. Added the list of Theodore’s grandchildren to the Grandchildren page.
Mar. 12: Added information to Theodore Turley’s Timeline (mainly from his time in the towns of Cedar City and Washington, Utah). Added the list of Theodore’s children by his five wives to the Children page. Updated Wives page. Added detailed timeline and important places list to Ruth Jane Giles. Added important places lists to Mary Clift, Eliza Clift, and Sarah Ellen Clift. - Mar. 10: Added Special Projects page describing the various headstone projects that the organization has sponsored throughout the years. Projects include the 1997 Theodore Turley headstone in Beaver, Utah, the 2016 Mary Clift Turley and Alvin Hope Turley headstones in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the 2019 Ann Smith Tolton headstone in Salt Lake City, Utah. Directions to the headstones within each cemetery are also included.
- Mar. 9: Finally added descriptions to last three photographs of the Charles Herman Turley collection.
- Mar. 6: Published blog post “Theodore Turley Descendants Involved in Netflix True-Crime Documentary, ‘Murder Among the Mormons.’”
- Mar. 5: Added information about our upcoming TTFO semi-annual meeting on April 10, 2021 @ 10:00 a.m. to the Events page and Semi-Annual Meetings page. Also made notes on the Events page and Annual Birthday Commemoration page about moving the talk by Steve Rockwood to fall 2021.
February
- Feb. 22: Added detailed timeline with citations to Eliza Georgianna Clift‘s page.
- Feb. 15: Updated Eliza Georgianna Clift page with citations, added/corrected information about her four marriages, and added her 1882 obituary.
2020
November
- Nov. 5: Added one page: Website Changelog.
- Nov. 4: Published blog post “October 10th TTFO Meeting Minutes”; updated events pages (Events, Semi-Annual Meetings, Annual Birthday Commemoration, and World Family History Day) and Current Leadership page.
October
- Added many obituaries to the In Memoriam page.
September
- Sep. 28: Added one page with multiple PDF files: The Theodore Turley Family Book, a.k.a. “Red Book.”
June
- Jun. 9: Added one page: Illinois Newspapers.
April
- Apr. 29: Added one page: Canadian Newspapers.
- Apr. 16: Added one page: Timeline.
- Apr. 15: Added one page: British Newspapers.
- Apr. 9: Added one page: 1850 U.S. Census (Utah County, Utah).
- Apr. 8: Published blog post “Celebrating the U.S. Census with Theodore Turley’s Census Records”; added one page: 1840 U.S. Census (Hancock County, Illinois).
- Apr. 7: Added one page: 1971 Letter from Joseph Soll Turley to Descendants of Theodore Turley.
March
- Mar. 30: Added four biography installments:
- Mar. 29: Added one biography installment: 42: The Erie Canal.
- Mar. 28: Added one biography installment: 41: Steaming Up the Hudson.
- Mar. 22: Added two biography installments:
- Mar. 21: Added five biography installments:
- Mar. 10: Added three biography installments:
- Mar. 7: Published blog post “Family History in the Age of Social Distancing”; added four biography installments:
- Mar. 5: Added one biography installment: 26: Free at Last.
- Mar. 4: Added one biography installment: 25: Still in Prison.
- Mar. 3: Added one biography installment: 24: Keen Reflections from Jail.
January
- Jan. 24: Published blog post “From the Inbox: Do We Have a Turley Coat of Arms?”
- Jan. 22: Added one biography installment: 23: Imprisoned.
- Jan. 21: Added one biography installment: 22: Trying to Convince the Family.
- Jan. 17: Published blog post “Minutes from the October 12th Semi-Annual TTFO Meeting.”
- Jan. 7: Published blog post “TTFO Website: 2019 in Review”
2019
All 2019 updates were listed by topic in the January 2020 blog post, “TTFO Website: 2019 in Review,” but they are listed here in chronological order.
December
- Dec. 22: Added one biography installment: 21: Preaching, Sightseeing, and Genealogy.
- Dec. 21: Added two biography installments:
October
- Oct. 12: Added one page: Who was Theodore Turley?
- Oct 4: Added two pages:
- Oct. 2: Added one page: Photos from Charles Herman Turley’s Papers.
September
- Sep. 30: Updated Wives page and added individual pages for each wife:
- Sep. 18: Published blog post “Do We Have Theodore’s Death Date Wrong?”; added multiple pages:
- Sep. 17: Added five pages and one biography installment:
- Sep. 16: Added one page: Theodore Turley’s 1872 Probate Record.
- Sep. 14: Published blog post “Semi-Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 12th”; added three biography installments:
- Sep. 13: Added two biography installments:
July
- Jul. 23: Published blog post “Crossing the Plains with the Silas Richards Company.”
- Jul. 12: Added one biography installment: 12: Preparing for a Mission.
- Jul. 11: Added one biography installment: 10: Refugees in Search of a Home.
- Jul. 10: Added two biography installments:
- Jul. 7: Added one biography installment: 7: Helping the Poor to Move.
- Jul. 5: Published blog post “In the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.”
- Jul. 4: Published blog post “Theodore Turley Gains U.S. Citizenship.”
May
- May 4: Added one page: Theodore Turley Biography by Ella Mae Judd.
- May 3: Added three pages:
- May 2: Added two biography installments:
- May 1: Published blog post “May 15th ‘Virtual Reunion’: Join Us by Uploading Memories into FamilySearch!”; added one page and three biography installments:
April
- Apr. 23: Added one page and two biography installments:
- Apr. 19: Published blog post “Audio Recording of 2019 TTFO Family History Day Presentation Now Available.”
- Apr. 18: Added one page and a biography installment:
- Apr. 11: Published blog posts “From the Inbox: Bringing the British Converts to Nauvoo” and “Notes from the April 5th Semi-Annual Meeting”; added three pages:
- Apr. 7: Added two pages:
- Apr. 5: Published blog post “Semi-Annual Meeting on Friday, April 5th”; added fourteen pages:
- Apr. 4: Added two pages: