Born a Virginian. Amherst County, Virginia contributed the largest amounts of enlistments in the War between the States of any State on either side..

My Great Great Great Grandmother Mrs. Martha Porter Turpin Bowles brother. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. William Cheatwood Turpin / Alice C Smith Turpin of Pedlar section near our beloved Fancy Hill, Amherst County, Virginia.

J.D. Turpin Private, Company G and H, 51st Virginia

Died while a Prisoner of War of measles and starvation.

2,435 other Confederate prisoners of war that died while being held in captivity at Fort Delaware, Peapatch Island in the Delaware River. The granite obelisk is 85 feet tall, the names are inscribed on bronze tablets that ring the base. All of the over 2,000 Confederate prisoner of war that died in Finn's Point National Cemetery, Salem County, New Jersey lay in unmarked graves.

Confederate Monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize Confederate soldiers buried at the cemetery.

Finn's Point National Cemetery is located about six miles northwest of Salem, N.J., at the north end of what was Fort Mott Military Reservation.

United States purchased the land for the construction of the Finn's Point Battery to protect the Port of Philadelphia. By 1863, however, the grounds increasingly served as a burial site for Confederate prisoners of war who died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware.

This island was mostly unaffected by humanity with one exception. Dr. Henry Gale, a New Jersey resident, used Pea Patch as a private hunting ground.Dr. Henry Gale was offered USD $30,000 for the island by the US military, but he flatly refused. The US military was determined to get the island, so they appealed to the Delaware state legislature, which seized the island from Dr. Gale on May 27, 1813.

In 1838, Joseph T. Hudson of New Jersey (descendent of Dr. Henry Gale) sent legal representation to the island, claiming he had legal rights to the island. Captain Delafield's fort was never built due to this decade long legal battle over island ownership. The suit was eventually decided in Hudson's favor; the government was obligated to pay him $1,005.00 for the island.

Fort Delaware was on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, one mile east of Delaware City. The island was named after a colonial-era tale that a boat loaded with peas ran aground on a river shoal, and the peas sprouted in the sandy loam. In 1847, Congress appropriated $1 million to construct the largest modern coastal defense fort in the nation here, surpassing Fort Sumter in size, to protect the ports of Wilmington, De, and Philadelphia, Pa.. In April 1862, Fort Delaware received its first POWs—358 Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Kernstown, Va. By January 1866 when the prison closed, approximately 22,773 men occupied the fort, including soldiers, officers and other prisoners.

An estimated total of 2,502 men died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware. Even prior to its designation as a national cemetery, the remains of POWs were transported to Finn's Point across the river for burial. When weather or ice made trips to the mainland hazardous, it was necessary to bury the bodies on Pea Patch Island. On May 12, 1875, Virginia Gov. James L. Kemper wrote to the secretary of war concerning the neglected Confederate graves on Pea Patch Island. In response, Gen. E.D. Townsend advised the governor that Finn's Point would be made a national cemetery and the remains of soldiers—both Union and Confederate—would be reinterred there. Finn's Point was official declared a national cemetery Oct. 3, 1875.


The death toll among prisoners of war and the guards was high, especially in the latter part of 1863 and throughout 1864. By July 1863, there were 12,595 prisoners on the island at nearby Fort Delaware which was only about 75 acres in size. Disease was rampant and nearly 2,700 prisoners died from malnutrition or neglect. Confederate prisoners interred at the cemetery totaled 2,436 and all are in general unmarked graves.

Officially made a National Cemetery on October 3, 1875 by request of Virginia Governor James L. Kemper, who criticized the poor maintenance of the Confederate grave sites.

The first Confederate prisoner to die at Fort Delaware was Captain L. P. Halloway of the 27th Virginia Infantry. He was captured at Winchester, Va. on March 23, 1862, dying on April 9th. Captain Halloway, a 32nd Degree Freemason, was given a full Masonic funeral by Jackson Lodge in Delaware City. The funeral procession was led by fort's commander, Captain Augustus A. Gibson, from the town's lock on Clinton Street, and ending in the cemetery on Jefferson Street. According to church records, Halloway's body was reclaimed by family after the war.

By August 1863, there were more than 11,000 prisoners on the island; by war's end, it had held almost 33,000 men. The conditions were deplorable, but about 2,500 prisoners died on Pea Patch Island. Statistically, the overall death rate for prisoners was about 7.6 percent. Half of the total number of deaths occurred during a smallpox epidemic in 1863. Inflammation of the lungs (243 deaths), various forms of diarrhea (315 deaths) and smallpox (272 deaths) were the leading killer amongst the prison population. About 215 prisoners died as a result of Typhoid and/or Malaria, according to records in the National Archives. Other causes of death include scurvy (70 deaths), pneumonia (61 deaths) and erysipelas (47 deaths). Five prisoners drowned, and seven died from gunshot wounds escaping.


Immortal 600!

On August 20, 1864, six-hundred Confederate officers boarded the Crescent bound for Morris Island, S.C., "for the purpose I believe of being placed under the fire of the Confederate batteries in retaliation for an equal number of Federal officers who have been placed in the city of Charleston, and are said to be exposed to the shelling of their own guns. I am glad of this move as it will be a diversion to the monotonous life led in prison," said Capt. Leon Jastremski of the 10th Louisiana Infantry. This group of prisoners was later known as the Immortal Six Hundred.

( May GOD so bless them 600 all!")

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TURPIN TIME::
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Father::
Thomas Turpin::

Born in Henrico County, Virginia, USA on 1768 to Philip Turpin and Elizabeth Burton.

Thomas Turpin who married once.

MOTHER:: Rachel Cheatwood.
Rachel Cheatwood 1755-1826

In Ackerley and Parker's book has his will and he had the farm next to our kin, Thomas Jefferson's son Peter Jeffersons Son, US President Thomas Jefferson's POPLAR FOREST. Thomas Turpin's will is in Bedford County

Thank you again Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Harvey De Mallie, DAR, OES, AAUW !

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Now more (("Turpin Time"!))
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Born in Henrico County ( Parish), Virginia, USA on 1768 to Philip Turpin and Elizabeth Burton. Thomas married Rachel Cheatwood and had 10 children. He passed away on 15 Mar 1858 in Virginia, USA.

Family Members

Parents

DAD: Philip Turpin 1670-1690

MOM: Elizabeth Burton 1699-1767

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George Turpin's Siblings:

Henry: He died in infancy

Thomas Edward Turpin: 1832-Unknown
married Mary Odgen in 1854

Eliza D Turpin: 1833-Unknown married a,___Markram

Philip Turpin: 1835-,killed in battle during Civil War

Mary E Turpin: 1836-Unknown, married William Odgen of Bedford Co.

Amanda Malvina Turpin: 1838-1927 married Robert N. Carter. She died Nov. 24, 1927.

William A Turpin: 1840-Unknown b 1840 in Company G, Fifty-first Virginia Infantry, promoted corporal; killed at Brucetown, 1864

John C. Turpin: 1842-1925 John Cheatwood, born April 15, 1842 ( He is buried at Jonesboro Baptist) and lived across the way from where my Aunt, Eleanor Grey HARVEY Massie lives. He built his house abt. 1879 and my mother, Mary Elizabeth HARVEY De Mallie met many of his children. She stopped by to see and got the autograph from Lottie Cheatwood Turpin Brent Dameron when she was 101 years old and she showed her the US silver dollar -1879 & the citation from the President of U.S., she also attended her funeral at Jonesboro Baptist in Roseland, Virginia in AUG. 1981. He was in Civil War.

Peter Flood Turpin: 1844-Unknown, enlisted in CSA 1862, Company F, 28 Virginia Infantry, Hunton's Brigade, Pickett's Division. He married in 1869, Ellen Jones.

George:, taken prisoner during the Civil War, and died in this Yankeee Delaware Prison.

James:, deceased and never married

Mary:, married William Odgen of Bedford Co.

Amanda Melvina:, married Robert N. Carter. She died Nov. 24, 1927.

* My Great Great Grandmother
Martha Porter Turpin 1844-1927:,Born February 8th, 1844 married Robert Nathaniel Bowles. She died September 27th, 1927.

Sallie Bettie:, died when about 8 years of age.