The historian, like a court of law, has to follow certain rules of evidence. He must read all the sources, sift the facts from the half-truths, connect the sequence of events, and thus attempt to discover what has happened. He must be careful never to impose pre conceived notions upon the evidence, and he must judge it irrespective of personal or popular beliefs. The historian must make only those generalizations which can be fully supported, and he must be certain that all which he presents as fact is fact. This is true whether one is writing a history of Caesar and his conquest of Gaul, or the problems of historical interpretation faced in compiling a short account of ones ancestry.

It has been noted by students of American life that people in this country are becoming more and more interested in the history of their families. Perhaps this is because they feel the need for roots in a rapidly changing society, or because of a maturing nation -or both. Of late there has been a great interest in genealogy, the tracing of family ancestors. My own interest in the Turrittin family started about ten years ago, in 1955. I was in high school at the time, and I needed a science day project for the course in Biology I was taking. The chapter on heredity interested me, so I decided to make a study of the transmission of genetic characteristics in my own family. I not only won a superior rating with my class project, but working on my family tree opened up an entire new field for investigation.

I am one of those fortunate souls to have been born into a family that had not only older relatives still living, but a generous collection of diaries and letters, old pictures, baptismal records, and most important, obituaries. If it had not been for this collection of memorabilia, I doubt that much progress could have been made with this history.

In gathering material on the Turrittin family, I have taken advantage of a great many courses. I especially owe a debt of personal gratitude, for first hand information, to the following individuals: Mrs. Maude Edna Whiteman, of Palo Alto, California, a daughter of Hugh and Frances Amelia (Hess) Turrittin; Mrs. Alice Crossfield Gunderson, . of Kasota, Minnesota, a granddaughter of James B. and Wilhelmina Kunigunde Jakobine (Zwanziger) Turrittin; Mrs. Sheldon Garfield Doughten, of Toledo, Ohio, a daughter-in-law of Isabelle Turrittin Doughten; James Marvin Turrittin, of Toledo, Ohio, a son of William Alexander and Mary Ann (Benner) Turrittin; Mrs. Joyce Turrittin Drake, of Belvidere, Illinois, a daughter of Albert Hugh Turrittin; Mrs. Don D. Hartsell, the former Olive H. Moore, of Osseo, Michigan, a granddaughter of Charles Tripp Snow; Mrs. Pearl B. Lapham, of Portland, Oregon, a granddaughter of Charles N. and Lucinda M (Turrittin) Warrant; Mrs. Clyde H. Zwayer, of Bradenton, Florida, a daughter of Nicholas and Martha Manerva (Turrittin) King; and Mrs. Olive Bayes Doughten Fox Lawson, of Columbus, Ohio, a granddaughter of John Harmon and Isabelle (Turrittin) Doughten.

The above persons have supplied me with all sorts of interesting and significant information.

I have also taken advantage of the following named sources : the National Archives and General services Administration in Washington, D. C.; the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; the probate court records of Defiance and Williams Counties, Ohio; and The Turrentine Family, compiled by George Ruford Turrentine of the Arkansas Polytechnic- College. The gathering of the data for this story of the Turrittins has been in process, in earnest, for about one year. During this last year many persons have helped in the work of collecting the data here compiled for your enjoyment and that of future generations. I take this opportunity to express my appreciative thanks to all who have given such assistance and encouragement. I hope you will enjoy the story lived by our ancestors.

It is impossible for us of this generation to realize the hardships of the early pioneers. We read in history of their early struggles; we listen in wonder at the relation of their early experienees, and with our everyday common conveniences, which had they been foretold, would have been considered as unbelievable luxuries, we can not fully comprehend the privations they endured and the sacrifices they made that the many blessings which we enjoy might be ours .

The growing desire today of many to know about their ancestors is to be commended, and it is to be regretted that so many of the early settlers failed to leave few records of preceding generations, due perhaps to the fact that their time was almost wholly occupied in providing for their daily wants and little thought was given to the subject as a matter of interest to future generations.

To the sturdy pioneers of the last century, of which Samuel Turrittin and his children were a splendid type, we all should acknowledge a debt of gratitude which can never be marked "paid in full".

Thomas Edson Doughten
Toledo, Ohio
22 September-1965

Note: the following text was converted to text file via text recognition. Therefore it no doubt contains translation errors that I did not catch. The text also contains a few spelling, grammar and other errors that were in the original text. B.R.