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NEWBURG, INDIANA(Written 1975 by Thelma Wallace, deceased) “The
town of Newburg is located in the southwest corner of the northwest
quarter of Section 11, township No. 12, north of range 7 West in Clay
County. Newburg is a station
on the Terre Haute and Indianapolis railroad in Posey Township, two miles
southwest of Brazil, founded by Joshua Modesitt
and recorded at the Clay County Court House on February 27, 1854. As to say it was given this name in preference to any other
does not appear on record at that time.
Newburg lies on the border line between the block and the
bituminous coal areas and was for many years the home of the veteran coal
operator Peter Ehrlich and his brother Christian Ehrlich, who was associated with him.
The name of the first Post Office here, which was in existence at
the time of the Civil War, was Sherman, named perhaps in honor of General
William T. Sherman. After a few years it was discontinued. Later sometime in the 1870’s it was reestablished and named
Turner, in honor of Rev. Turner
of the Friends’ Church of Indianapolis, President of the Indianapolis
Mining Coal and Coke Company, who had large interests in the way of
investments here in mineral lands and their development.
Some of the earlier settlers were
Tribble’s, Spry’s, Payne’s, Pierce’s, Ehrlich’s,
Brusher’s, Howald’s, Miller’s,
Mackel’s, Houser’s, Cobley’s,
Huddell’s, Hardy’s, Lord’s,
Meakin’s, Murry’s, Eberle’s,
Poland’s, Hice’s, Waltzer’s,
Burke’s, Snoddy’s, Hayward’s,
and others.
Some of the early Postmasters were:
Ben Tribble, Joseph Spry, Allen Payne, Henry
M. Pierce, Fred Mackel, Jacob F. Houser, and
Charley Mackel.
Fred Mackel, deceased,
had the Post Office for nearly a quarter of a century. “Sam
Cobley was born in Bedmas,
Wales, in 1871. As a young
man he went to work in the coal mines of Wales. Later
he worked in the gold mines of Africa, New Zealand, etc. He came to this country working in the mines as he traveled
to different parts of the country. Finally,
he settled at Turner, Indiana, in the early 1900’s.
He married Josie Brusher,
who passed away a short time later. Later
he married Myrtle Miller of
Turner, daughter of Charles and Hulda Miller.
There was one child born to this union:
Stanley Cobley, born
on April 1, 1913. Mr. Cobley
followed coal mining until about 1918-1919, ending about 34 years working
in the mines. Mr.
Cobley died in November, 1950.
Mrs. Cobley
continued to live in the home place until her health failed, and she went
to live with a son by a previous marriage, Roy Wallace,
of Brazil. Mrs. Cobley
died in 1969. Charles and Hulda Miller spent most of their lifetime in Turner. Mr. Miller died in October of 1913, and Mrs. Miller died several years later.
Cobley’s Store building was torn down about 1950 or
1951. The lots north of the store were bought by Edith Howald,
who operated a beauty shop from 1938 to 1942, when the Howald’s
sold out and moved to South Bend, Indiana.
Paul Dickison’s family
now reside on these lots.
The United Brethren Church was built and dedicated in 1886.
The Church was finally torn down in the early 1930’s.
Clyde and Dorothy (Ruddell)
Reffett bought the property later and built them a home.
In late years it was sold to James Hayward
(former resident of Turner).
A potter shop was operated by Dolph Clarke
on the site where the United Brethren Church was built, for sometime
according to the early history of Turner.
Turner had two schools in their early history.
Both schools were abandoned when Staunton High School was
consolidated. They were known
as the “Big School” and “Little School”.
The Big School was sold to Harry and Ella
Ruddell at tax sale in the early 1930’s, and it is now the home of
Bob Anderson’s. The Little School was sold to William McCullough (date unknown) and then in 1923 was sold to Albert Newton. Today it is the home of Frankie Hoffman’s.
Some of the school teachers of Turner were:
Eva Veach, Charley Murray, Albert Veach,
Clarice Arnett, Solon Gillfillan,
Ida Pierce, John Fulk, John Trout,
Marjorie Gillespie, Cynthia Hayward,
Elizabeth Rentschler, Charles Lee,
Rose Lehner, Blanche Corbin,
Iva Bowles, Herbert Killion,
John DeFore, and many others.
Turner was also known for their coal mines and some of them were:
Heck Mine, Operator Brazil District Collieries Co., abandoned in
1923; Klondike No. 3, Operator C. Ehrlich Coal Co. (abandoned unknown);
West Side No. 2, Operator West Side Coal Co., abandoned 1917; and others.
The miner’s road the
train, which stopped at the depot in Turner morning and evening, as that
was their way of transportation to and from work in other mines located
away from Turner.
George Hardy, a resident
of Turner, was killed in Pierce’s Mine caused by bad air on February 20,
1918.
Joe Hardy and son
Georgie, who was 12 years old, were killed in the Hunt’s Mine, located
about 1 ½ miles southeast of Staunton on October 27, 1923, caused by a
gas explosion. Both were
residents of Turner. Joe
Hardy was a brother to George Hardy. Nellie
Ruddell Hayward lived in Turner
most of her entire life and is in a nursing home in Brazil at the present
time and is past 90 years of age.
“Many years ago Turner had a population of 400.
Today Turner has a population of 92.
Many of the homes have been torn down and have never been replaced.
However, in later years there have been some new homes built,
several remodeled, and some mobile homes, too.
Rachel Murray Bell is
the only person living in Turner, who was born and lived her entire life
in Turner. She has recently
retired and is still living in the Murray home place.
William Brusher, who
passed away on February 24, 1974, lived over 70 years in his home place in
Turner. He married Mayme Miller of Staunton, and they had two children, Delores Brusher
Love and Billy Ray Brusher. Mayme Brusher passed
away in October of 1945. Billy
Ray Brusher passed away a few
years ago. Delores is living
in Brazil.
Harvey Riggs of Staunton
was the first band director for the Turner Band.
Some of the band members were:
Harry Ruddell, Jake Ehrlich, Ray Ehrlich (who
later was their band director), Lester Ehrlich, Chester Ehrlich,
Elmo Ehrlich, Pearl Wallace,
Harvey Wallace, Chancey Lord,
George Houser, Clarence Houser,
Albert Tribble, Wilson Tribble,
Leonard Tribble, William Brusher,
and others. In later years
the band was abandoned and several of the members joined the Jackson
Township Community Band under the director of the band, Carl F. Kumpf.
During the existence of the Turner Band, the band played for many
community affairs in Turner and surrounding towns.
Jake Ehrlich always
furnished the team of horses and wagon as transportation for the Band.
Turner was also known for their baseball team.
Many games were played with surrounding ball teams.
Some of the players were: James
Waltzer, Harry Ruddell,
George Hardy, James Burk, James Ehrlich,
Willard Lord, Ira Houser,
Taylor Hice, Elliott Summers,
and others. According
to the early history of Turner, there were three boarding houses, namely:
Mrs. Poland’s. Mrs. Hoffman’s,
and Rella Murray’s. Also, Turner had several saloons during its early history. Some of the earlier settlers were from Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Holland and other countries.
Since Turner was located by the Vandalia Railroad, many of the
residents would enjoy going to the depot, which was located in the
northeast part of town near the Meakin
home place, and watch the passengers arrive and leave town.
Turner has always had a problem of water supply due to the coal
mines located in and surrounding the town.
However, in later years several attempts have been made to get a
water system, but to-date they have never been successful.
In the Spring of 1940 Albert Tribble,
James Ehrlich and Pearl Wallace
met at the home of William Brusher
to plan a homecoming. They
set the date as the third Sunday in July of 1940, and to be held in Ehrlich’s
Woods. A large crowd attended
this event. This event was
named “Turner Community Reunion”, and has continued to be held on the
3rd Sunday of July at Forest Park, Brazil, Indiana, down
through the years.
Some of the present residents of Turner are:
Dickison’s, Howald’s, Bell’s, Love’s,
Pruett’s, Hoffman’s, Robinson’s,
Taylor’s, Batchelor’s,
Baysinger’s, Head’s, Wilson’s, Alsip’s,
Ridener’s, and others.
At present, Turner has no merchants of any kind, and there is no
Post Office. William
“Bill” Boucher delivered the mail through Turner by car from the Brazil
Post Office for many years. As
we close the history of Turner it is impossible to include everything and
everybody whoever lived or was a part of Turner.” Written
by Thelma Wallace June 1, 1975 Close this window to return to the website
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