_James Ray MAXWELL __+
| (1934 - ....) m 1951
_Randall Lynn MAXWELL _|
| (1959 - ....) m 1980 |
| |_Ruby Maxine MENIE __
| m 1951
|
|--Jennifer Lea MAXWELL
| (1981 - ....)
| _____________________
| |
|_Shirlene MCDANILL ____|
m 1980 |
|_____________________
_Martin TURMAN ______+
| (.... - 1824)
_Milton Anderson TURMAN __|
| (1802 - 1890) m 1825 |
| |_Rebecca ____________
|
|
|--James Richard TURMAN
| (1835 - 1861)
| _____________________
| |
|_Sarah Ellender ROBERSON _|
(1808 - 1897) m 1825 |
|_____________________
[5]
BIOGRAPHY: James Turman, born 1835 was the sixth child of Milton A.and Sarah Roberson Turman. James was born in what is now Lamar County,Alabama. At the time of his birth, Lamar County was still part ofMarion County. James grew up on a farm near the town of Sulligent. Hemet and fell in love with Sarah Jane Sandlin, the daughter of JessieSandlin and his wife Mary. Jessie and his wife were one of the firstsettlers of this area, coming from South Carolina. James and Sarahwere married approximately 1857 in Sulligent, Alabama. Their lifetogether was shortened due to the beginning of the Civil War.
James, along with five of his brothers, joined the Confederate Army in1861 or 62. We know that two of his brothers fought in the Battle ofShiloe, in Tennessee. We feel that Jame also fought in this battle.
James and Sarah had one son, James Richard, born May 29, 1859. He wasonly two years of age at the time of his father's death. we haven'tbeen able to determine James' place of burial. Perhaps, he was buriedwhere he fell on the battlefield.
After the death of James, Sarah remarried to William Carden in 1865.Sarah and William were the parents of nine children. James Richard andhis half sisters and brothers were very close. Sarah died inSulligent, Alabama on 12 April 1921 and is buried in the SandlinCemetery. The cemetery is located between Sulligent and Detroit,Alabama.
The children of Sarah and William Carden were as follows: Martha Ann,1872, the wife of George Jay Turman. Martha Ann died in 1952; MaryJane, born 1874, the wife of Paul Kitrell. Mary died in 1941; Nancy C,born 1879, the wife of Mr. Franklin. Nancy died in 1923; Tom, born1881, never married; Tom died in Poteau, Oklahoma. Dan C. born Feb. 6,1896. Dan married twice, first to Dezina Pitchford and second to NoraJacobs. Dan died Jan. 26, 1944 and is buried in the Jackson Cemetery,Hartford, Arkansas. Warren, born 1879 married Mattie Shaffer. Warren,his wife and son Dalton moved to Arkansas in the early 1900s; Henry,born 1886 also moved to Arkansas then later to Poteau, Oklahoma.
Randall born in Alabama had one son, Bill - who lived in Poteau,Oklahoma. Dan Carden was the father of several children: Dempsy, whoresides in Hartford, Arkansas. Tony and Mildred, who resides inPoteau, Oklahoma, and Agnes, Alfie, Velmie and Orthal.
Several of the Turman boys and their families left Alabama andmigrated into other states in the early 1890s. Like all young people,there was a yen to seek new places to settle and to provide a betterhome for their families. Robert, the oldest son of Milton AndersonTurman, was the first to make this move. Three years later, JamesRichard followed his uncle's footsteps and also migrated into the areaaround Hartford, Arkansas.
James Richard, being a very quiet man, liking to live away fromothers, no doubt found the area around Hartford very pleasing. This isvery understanding, for the area around the old Turman homesite iscertainly one of the most beautiful places I have even seen. The oldhomesite is located approximately six mile west of Hartford, Arkansas,in what is called "the gap of Sugar Loaf Mountains". Tall pines andscrub oak completely surrounds the old homesite, at the foot of SugarLoaf Mountain. Not too far is a stream where the children swam ortried their luck at catching a fish for dinner.
Game was plentiful and wild blackberries and huckleberries wereabundant. The children spent their spare time hiking up the Mountainsides or swimming in the creek.
In the spring, when the wild berries were ready for picking, the womenfolks would dress in trousers, put on gloves and socks and with shinynew buckets, would head for the moutainsides to pick berries. Thereason for the special dress and shiny buckets was chiggers and snakeswould be in the berry vines. Mr. Snake will always strike a shinyobject first. The children were never allowed to go on those trips dueto the danger of the rattlesnake or copperhead snakes which were foundin the area.
The most beautiful time of the year in this area is the fall of theyear. The green vines against the colors of the turning oak leaves isa beauty that only God could create. Late in the evening as the sunsinks behind the mountains and throws it's orange beams of light uponthe colors of the oak leaves, all orange, gold and brown, it looks asif the whole mountainside is ablaze.
Night comes early to the people who live in this valley, as mountainscompletely surround the little town of Hartford. One can feel aspecial kind of serenity as the sun sets and night begins to fall. Aquietness and calmness is felt. The only sounds that are heard are thecows mooing and perhaps a dog barking off in the distance, or a dovecooling, calling to it's mate somewhere on the mountainside. This isan artist's paradise.
(written by Gladys Turman, approximately 1972)