Martha Jane Stott

Martha J. Turner quit claim deeds



Date: 0 0, 0

Whitman County Deeds, County Court House, Colfax, Washington: Direct Deeds

29 Dec 1902; Martha J. Turner etal to Minnie Turner Fronek; book 110; page 67; quit claim deed, Colfax 3/4 interest.

27 Mar 1905; Martha J. Turner to Minnie E. Fronek; book 122; page 508; quit claim deed.

A Short History of a Pioneer Family of Whitman County


A brief history of the Turner family, starting with Lewhettie and Jonas Turner and following their son, Thomas Turner.
Date: 0 0, 1973

by Elsie Collins

Luhettie and Jonah Turner brought their family across the plains in the 1850's when their son Thomas Benton Turner was thirteen years old. They traveled from Missouri to Sebastapol, California, and settled there in Santa Rosa.

Thomas herded cattle when he was a boy so he didn't get much schooling. Later he packed freight to the mines from Wallula to the Okanogan country, and supplies by mule team to the gold mines at Benton, Mont., from The Dalles, Ore.

He moved to Walla Walla abut 1871, trading a team of horses and wagon for squatter's rights to the place on Dry Creek above Walla Walla. Later he took up a pre-emption on what was known as a timber claim on the Palouse river, five miles west of Lacrosse. This turned out to be school land when it was surveyed, so he rented the school section that year and Grandmother rented it from 1871 to 1933. He and Grandmother moved to the ranch on the Palouse river in 1872 and lived there until his death in 1901.

Grandmother Turner (nee Martha Stott) was born in Indiana in 1848. She crossed the plains with her parents at the age of three years in 1851, in a covered wagon. Her parents and family settled in the Willamette Valley near Hillsboro, Ore. In 1871 she came to Walla Walla and a year later married my grandfather, Thomas Benton Turner. They would move in the fall of the year to assure and education for their children. So in 1884 they lived in Colfax during the school term; 1n 1889-90 the children went to school in Pampa and after that in Walla Walla. My, mother, Minnie Fronek, was their daughter.

Mary Chermark and Joames Fronek were both born in Bohemia. They were married there in 1863 and came to America for their honeymoon six months later, living first at Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1875, James Fronek brought his family by train to Oregon. They had wanted to settle in the Willamette Valley but people there had lost many of their children by diphtheria, so they were advised to settle near the mountains. They bought land eight miles from Silverton and had a dairy, as they were in a Swiss settlement which specialized in cheese and gardening.

They cleared the land of the oak trees and cut them into lengths 75 to 125 feet long and sent them by raft to the shipyards at Portland. They made good money at this as the hardwood was in demand. Working hard they could clear an acre each year. They finally got eight acres cleared and built a house and barn.

In 1885, they left Oregon and came to Washington Territory in a horse-drawn wagon with all their belongings. They settled on land three and one-half miles north of Lacrosse, at a place where Union creek and the O.W.R.R.&N. Railroad crossed. The family of nine children lived in a dugout shelter and a large tent that first winter.

The next spring the Froneks started hauling lumber from a mill about two miles from Palouse City. They had plenty of good milk, cream and butter and raised a big garden. The family traded some at Pampa, a small village some five miles south of Lacrosse. At that time Lacrosse did not exist. Once a year they made a trip to Colfax for flour, dairy salt, sugar, green coffee beans and dress goods. They would roast the beans in the oven, first spreading the beans one inch deep in a bread pan. This amount would make one week's supply of coffee. They also made postum of three-fourths rye and one-fourth corn, which they browned in the oven and ground. They made all their own soap. Kerosene was brought for the lamps but if they ran out of that they would use one-half tallow and one-half grease and often braided strings for wicks. The Fronek family sometimes made their own candles or pure tallow which made a good light.

James Fronek traded some to the stores for clothing. At that time you could buy overalls for 40 cents a pair. they were all waist overalls, and the best grade cost 50 cents a pair, the brand name being "Boss of the Road."

One of their eleven children, Clarence Fronek, was my father.