DEWITT BOGER TURNER

The following bio was taken from page 416 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

There are no family records of the Turners’ arrival in Rusk County, but they were settled before the Civil War. The father lost his life in that war and the mother took her own little ones back to Alabama, giving the stepchildren to any family that would take them. There were several boys and a girl. Boger’s father, Abner, was placed with a family near Pitner’s Junction. The girl, Molly, found a home with the Mayfields at Pine Hill. She married Abe Kent, lived near Mt. Hope and raised a large family.

Abner married John Elizabeth Boger of the Good Springs Community and lived near Scoober Creek. Three sons were born to this union—James, DeWitt Boger, and Horace. Abner died when his children were under seven.

"Johnnie" as she was called, was the granddaughter of William and Elizabeth Blackwell Eubanks, who married in 1840 and moved from Moulton, Alabama to Rusk County before the Civil War. Johnnie’s parents were John Wesley and Nancy Catherine Boger. Her father lost his life in the Civil War, leaving Johnnie and an older sister, Martha Ann, called "Annie". Their mother also died very young, and the sisters were brought up by their Grandmother Eubanks.

Annie married James Stone, and Boger made his home with his aunt and uncle after his father’s death. They lived briefly in Troup, where he attended first grade, and later in Henderson, where the Stones built a home on South Main.

Boger finished Henderson High School in May 1901. This class of four young men was the first to complete eleven grades, and an old program shows quite an event was made of it. M.H. Marwil, Weber Pettey, Clinton Teller, and Boger Turner were the graduates.

After graduation, Boger joined his uncle in the furniture and hardware business, a trade he followed in self-employment for the rest of his life.

On December 29, 1908, Boger married Emma Truitt Richardson, member of a pioneer Rusk County family. Five children were born to this union: Ruth Stone, Elizabeth, Boger, Donald, and William.

In the early thirties, Boger, with his brother Horace, started and promoted the Turnertown townsite that bears their name today.

Boger was in ill health for many years. His obituary states: "Despite the condition of his health, Mr. Turner was active many times when others might have given up. An expert with figures, he helped hold all kinds of elections, and for almost a generation posted returns on the huge board erected for this purpose—and could give accurate sub-total and final totals almost as rapidly as the average person could with an adding machine."

Boger died at his home on South Main Street, June 14, 1953, at the age of sixty-seven. He is buried in the Henderson City Cemetery.

Submitted by Ruth Stone Hunt