Thomas J Turk

Brief Life History of Thomas J

When Thomas J Turk was born about 1854, in Tioga Township, Tioga, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Henry Benjamin Turk, was 46 and his mother, Delilah Hamilton, was 39. He lived in Farmington Township, Tioga, Pennsylvania, United States in 1860 and Iowa, United States in 1870.

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Family Time Line

Henry Benjamin Turk
1809–1895
Delilah Hamilton
1816–1906
Mary Elizabeth Turk
1839–1895
Thomas J Turk
1854–
Zackariah A Turk
1844–1916
Susan A Turk
1847–
Katherine Sabrina Turk
1849–1885
Henry Benjamin Turk Jr
1857–1953

Sources (3)

  • Thomas J Turk in household of Henry B Turk, "United States Census, 1860"
  • Legacy NFS Source: Thomas J Turk - Individual or family possessions: birth-name: Thomas J Turk
  • Thomas J Turk in household of H B Turk, "United States Census, 1870"

World Events (8)

1857 · The State Capital moves to Des Moines

The Capitol was located in Iowa City until the 1st General Assembly of Iowa recognized that the Capitol should be moved farther west than Iowa City. Land was found two miles from the Des Moines River to start construction of the new building. Today the Capitol building still stands on its original plot.

1863

Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free.

1884 · There is now a Capital Building

The capitol building in Des Moines originally had a budget of $1,500,000 but complications arose because of the need of a redesign. The building was dedicated on January 17, 1884, but it wasn’t completed until 1886. On January 4, 1904, a fire started and swept through the areas that housed the Supreme Court and Iowa House of Representatives. A major restoration was performed and documented, with the addition of electrical lighting, elevators, and a telephone system. By the early 1980s, the sandstone exterior of the Capitol had started deteriorating and prompted the installation of canopies to protect pedestrians from falling rubble. The entire reconstruction process took around 18 years to complete.

Name Meaning

English (mainly Gloucestershire) and Dutch; German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Türk): from Middle English, Old French turc, Middle High and Low German Turc ‘Turk’, all ultimately from Turkish Türk. In theory this could be an ethnic name but, both in England and northwest Europe, it is generally a nickname for a man with black hair and a swarthy complexion or a cruel, rowdy, or unruly man. The English surname may also be from a medieval personal name, a back-formation from Turkel , misanalyzed as containing the Old French diminutive suffix -el. The Dutch and German surname also represents a topographic or habitational name referring to a house name derived from the use of a picture of a Turk as a house sign. It is also found as a nickname for someone who had taken part in the wars against the Turks. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine). Compare Turck and Tuerk .

Slovenian (also Türk) and Croatian: nickname for a refugee from the Turks in the 15th and 16th centuries, or e.g. for someone who behaved or looked like a Turk, from an old vernacular spelling of the Slovenian and dialectal Croatian ethnic name Turek ‘Turk’. Refugees were not ethnic Turks, but Croats and Serbs from ‘Turkey’, i.e. the Ottoman Empire, which included whole Bosnia and parts of Croatia. The Slovenian surname may in some cases also be a nickname from any of various plants named tur(e)k. Compare Turck , Turek , and Tuerk .

Turkish (Türk): ethnic or ornamental name from Türk ‘Turk’.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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