Theodore Turley
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Theodore Turley was the son of William Turley and Elizabeth Yates. There were ten children in the family and they were all staunch professors of Godliness.
At the age of eighteen, Theodore commenced preaching Methodism in the vicinity of Birmingham. On November 26, 1821, he married Francis Amelia in the Hartsham Church in London. Theodore was a master mechanic, and for some time precious to the year 1825, he was employed by the king of England. He and his partner had a contract to make dyes to stamp English money. When the job was completed, his partner collected the money and left town, leaving Theodore with the debts. He was about to be thrown into jail when the king, who liked Theodore, offered to give him a tract of land and a herd of cattle in Canada. He, Francis and two children emigrated to Canada in 1825. They settled in the Lake Ontario area where he again became a Methodist preacher. The Gospel was taken to Canada in 1836. The missionaries were having difficulty obtained a place to preach; finally they called upon Theodore Turley to see if they could obtain use of his chapel to present the Gospel. Not only did he loan his chapel, but asked the members of his congregation to come and listen. Theodore said to himself, "That is the truth and I shall be condemned if I do not accept it." He and Francis were baptized in March of 1837. After selling their farm for $1400, they left their home with two wagons and four horses (in a company of about four other families) and traveled about 1000 miles by land to Far West, Missouri; they arrived in 1938. In October of 1938, Governor Boggs issued the Extermination Order. While the prophet was imprisoned in Liberty Jail, Theodore was actively involved in presenting petitions for his release. He was also involved in moving the saints to Nauvoo. He remained in Far West until all of the saints had left and the prophet was released from prison. Theodore was set apart by Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith to accompany the twelve apostles as a missionary to the isles of the sea. Before he left, he became ill with the western chill fever and was confined to bed for eleven weeks. When the last apostle (George A. Smith) was leaving, still fast in bed, Theodore asked for a blessing. The next day, he was taken out of bed and put into the wagon to leave (approx. September 1839). On December 19, 1839, they sailed for England from New York. In England, Theodore was blessed to preach the gospel to his parents, his grandfather, and his brother and sisters. He was discouraged to learn that their minds were not open to the teachings. Then, trying to stop his preaching in the towns about, a priest had him arrested and put in jail for the debts owed when the king sent him to Canada. (After about two months he was released from prison.) In September of 1840, he was assigned to bring a company of about 80 saints to Zion. When he returned to Nauvoo, he resumed his occupation as a gunsmith. He was also among the brethren who accompanied the prophet to court and testified in his behalf. Theodore was privileged to visit with President Joseph Smith on many occasions and other accounts tell that Theodore was one of the prophet's bodyguards. Theodore arrived at Winter Quarters sometime before November of 1846. Along the way he buried six members of his family and his beloved wife, Francis Amelia. Theodore crossed the plains to Utah in 1849. Between August of 1850 and Spring of 1851, he and part of this family, along with 500 other saints, went to settle San Bernardino, California. In 1857, when the Johnson Army arrived in Utah, all of the saints were called back. Theodore Turley died on August 22, 1872 in Beaver, Utah after suffering untold pain from cancer of the mouth. We, as his descendants, can point with both pride and humility at his enviable record. But Theodore's attitude was not of boasting or pride, as can be illustrated by the number of times the words, "Thank God!" appear in his journal. written by Alice Jo C. Ellsworth: 1997
taken from "Theodore Turley 1800-1872" by Ella Mae Turley |