Turpin Family History - Mississippi
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White Turpin left Centerville Landing, Maryland in 1808 as a surveyor with a land grant from Thomas Jefferson and came to Adams County, near Washington, Mississippi, which was the capital of the Mississippi Territory. He came here with his good friend David Holmes who was to be the last Territorial Governor and the first state Governor of Mississippi. White was to be the last Territorial sheriff and the first sheriff of Adams County. He would serve two terms between the years 1812-1819. He was a planter and also had a mercantile business at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. During his life, he was also a state senator, a Jefferson College trustee, a member of the first legislature, and a president of the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi. White started the building of his plantation at Washington, Ms. in 1810 and it was finally finished in 1813. It was called "Oakland Plantation", but is not to be confused with the "Oakland" that is still standing outside of Natchez today. White Turpin's "Oakland" burnt in 1896. |
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On the Natchez Trace Parkway, a natural creek is named after Turpin |
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To the left is a photo of the owner's son working on the oblisk of White Turpin's daughter to restore it, along with other family tombstones |
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White married Rebecca Pettit Magruder on August 3, 1813. She had been divorced from a Dr. Walter Magruder in Natchez, Ms. in 1812. Once settled on their Oakland Plantation, the couple had three sons. The first was David Holmes Turpin who was born on July 6, 1814. He was named for White's good friend, Governor David Holmes. The second son born was Joseph Alexander Turpin from whom Kendell is directly descended. He was born on May 18, 1816. The third son born was White Turpin, Jr. on May 1, 1818. Rebecca died soon after delivering him. This left White Turpin with three boys from newborn to six years old to care for. |
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During his time as sheriff, White Turpin would travel between his Oakland Plantation at Washington, Ms. and his townhouse which is now called The White Turpin House. The St. Catherine's Creek would swell which made it difficult for him to travel back and forth, so he had the house in town so that he would have a place to stay. |
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Six years after his wife Rebecca's death, White married a widow, Lavinia
Magruder, on February 24, 1824. (Lavinia was the twin sister of the
well known Olivia Dunbar of Natchez) They had one child together,
a daughter named Rebecca Pettit Turpin. They named her for White's
first wife who had died in childbirth. Rebecca Pettit Turpin was born
on September 10, 1826 and she married a Mr. Henry Hutton of Maryland.
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To
the far left left is a photo of Laura Archer Scott Harris,
White Turpin's great-granddaughter. |
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During his life in Adams County, White Turpin was also a state senator, a Jefferson College trustee, a member of the first Legislature of the state of Mississippi in 1818, and a president of the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi.
White Turpin, his 2nd wife Lavinia, son David Holmes Turpin, son White Turpin, Jr., and daughter Rebecca Pettit Turpin are all buried in the Oakland family cemetery out at Washington, Ms. We discovered the long forgotten cemetery a little over a year ago and are in the process of restoring it. There are other graves there, but no markers, so we can't definitively say who they are.