Surname Saturday: LYTON or TURK

The LYTON family is my children's paternal grandmother's paternal grandmother's line. For many years, my children's uncle's wife and I poked here and there trying to find more information on this family. All we knew is that my children's father's 2nd-great-grandfather, Henry LYTON, had been born around 1841 in Ottawa, Ontario, and had died in 1874 in Iowa. He had immigrated to the United States to serve in the Union during the Civil War, had married his wife Mariah Emily DAILEY and had three children. His youngest child, my husband's great-grandmother Emma, was born a month after his death.

Five years ago, my children's uncle's wife ran his name through Ancestry's Civil War Veterans' Widows' Pension database and discovered that Henry's widow Mariah had claimed a pension on behalf of her daughter Emma. Mariah stated that Henry's real name was George TURK. At that point, everything clicked and we were able to connect him into a family. We  have not find more information at this point on the TURK line other than there is a very large TURK family (tracing back to 1561) as well as a TURCK family (tracing back to the Netherlands in 1635).

Stories and History:

Ahnentafel #52 - Samuel TURK (c. 1806 - 1880) - info varies as to his birthplace; some records state Canada, while others claim Massachusetts. In Ontario, he married Lydia GILLETT (b. 1808 in New York) whose ancestry can be traced back many, many generations in New England.

Ahnentafel #26 - George TURK, a.k.a. Henry LYTON (c. 1836 - 1874) - born in Ottawa, immigrated to the U.S. to serve in the 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics (his brother Reuben served in the military under the name Henry GILLETT). George/Henry married Mariah Emily DAILEY (1849 - 1935) August 1868 in Thurman, Fremont Co., Iowa

Ahnentafel #13 - Emma Alice LYTON (1874 - 1959) - born in Thurman, Fremont Co., Iowa, she was raised by her mother and step-father, John Christopher KLINDER in that community with her six younger half-siblings. About 1891, she married Albert Francis CHAPLIN and begin a life of constant migration: Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, with travels back to Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma. She died in Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon.

Ahnentafel # 6 - Forrest "Frank" L. CHAPLIN (1901 - 1977) - came out West in a covered wagon as a boy with his family...yes, they still had them in the early 1900s!

Ahnentafel #3 - my children's paternal grandmother (living)

Ahnentafel #1 - my children's father (living)

More about the LYTON or TURK family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): LYTON ancestors and relatives (no info on living persons available)

2. Some LYTON obituaries

3. Posts about LYTON and TURK ancestors and relatives on this blog

4. Some scanned LYTON and TURK photos and documents

My children's LYTON-TURK immigration trail:

MA? > ON > MI > Fremont Co., IA > Butler Co., NE > Fremont Co., IA > Clay Co., SD > Yankton Co., SD > Prowers Co., CO > Cheyenne Co., KS > Payette Co., ID > Clackamas Co., WA > Yakima Co., WA > Clark Co., WA > Adams Co., WA > Yakima Co., WA > Thurston Co., WA > Clark Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA