The early history of the Turrittin family is lost in the dark recesses of time. There seems to be a preponderance of evidence suggesting that the American Turrittin family is descended from the Turrettini family of continental Europe. The reader is cautioned, though, that as of this date, the relationship between the Turrittins and Turrettinis is purely conjecture. However, because the data is strong which links the; two families together, and because this could be the case, a brief account of the Turrettini family will follow. At this. point the reader is directed to consult the opening chapter in The Turrentine Family, written by the late George Ruford Turrentine, of the Arkansas Polytechnic College., Russellville, Arkansas. In this excellent family genealogy, which really begins with Alexander and Samuel Torrentine who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on board the Couli Kan from Ireland in the fall of 1745, Mr. Turrentine sketchs the European origin.of the Turrettini family.

He points out that the family first appears on the stage "of history in the Etruscan city of Lucca. Lucca, situated in a fertile plain, is about twenty-six-miles from the Mediterranean and thirteen miles north east of Pisa. The family name is thought to mean little turrets or towers. The first man to hold the name of Turrettini was Bernard who died sometime"before the year 1354.

Twelve Generations of Turrettini

1. Bernard died before 1354 at Chateau Nozzano near Lucca
2. Turrettino de Nozzano died in 1354 in Lucca.
3. Jacques Turrettini. was a Notary in 1354 in Lucca.
4. Nicholas Turrettini was married in 1388 in Lucca.
5. Christoffle Turrettini died about 1431 in Lucca.
6. Paolino Turrettini lived in Lucca.
7. Francois Turrettini died in 1546 in Lucca.
8. Regolo Turrettini died about 1582, Lucca. -
9. Francis Turrettini, 1547-1628, Geneva.
10. Jean Turretin, 1600-1681, Geneva.
11. Michel Turretin, 1646-1721. Geneva.
12. Francois-Jean Turretin, 1690-1765, Geneva.

Notes on the above generations:
Regolo, number 8, had a brother in Lyons and another in Antwerp. Jean, number 10, had brothers named Daniel, Samuel, Benedict, and Cesar. Francois-Jean, number 12, had a brother, Samuel, and a son, Samuel. The Turrettinis were silk weavers and merchants and were considered one of the noble families in Lucca. Several members of the family held the position of chief magistrate, or gonfalonier. The first member of the family, of which there is a great deal of information, was Francis Turrettini, number nine in the above list.


Now to quote from Mr. Turrentine's work:

...The arrival of Pietro Vermigli (Peter Martyr ) in 1541 marks an epoch in the history of the city (Lucca). The new Prior of San Frediano was one of the most pious men of his age. He established a college where students from various parts of northern and central Italy came for study of the "new learning". Thus the Protestant Reformation came to Lucca. The college became the seminary of ideas for which the Church of Rome could find no place.

In 1542, the Congregation of the Holy Office (the Inquisition) was established in Rome. It at once applied its attention to the congregations which were, with a more or less open adoption of Protestant doctrines, establishing themselves in a series of Italian towns. In the summer of 1542, Vermigli fled from Lucca. Although he had not himself openly renounced the Church of Rome before his flight, others had shown less caution. A visitation of the monastery led to the imprisonment of several monks and in Lucca, among those who were in point of fact rapidly, forming themselves into a Protestant congregation, an emigration began which was to last for thirty years. This emigration robbed Lucca of many of its most illustrious families.

Francis Turrettini was twenty-seven years of age, when in 1574, Pope Gregory XIII sent the Bishop of Rimini on a disciplinary quest to Lucca. Young Turrettini had reason to" fear that the Bishop would seize him and others and deliver them to the Inquisition. The conserit of two thirds of the Grand Council of the Republic was requisite before a member of the nobility could be seized. This made possible his escape for, although the Council was called early in the morning, he had time to secure some ready money from his counting-house and to saddle his mule and Journey to Florence. He then pushed on to Lyons, which as a Frencn city promised more safety. Here he found relations, private friends and trade connections. Also, he found two chests of silks which it seems he had with forethought had consigned to him there. Evidently, he was not surprised and had planned for this contingency.

Though of noble birth Francis was brought up in commerce, availing himself of the imperial privilege permitting this without consequent loss of caste to the sons of nobles of Venice, Florence, Genoa and Lucca. Thus at the age of seventeen or eighteen he had the entire management of , a large silk factory with numerous workmen and looked forward to. take his part in due time like his father, Regolo, and his grandfather Francois, in the government of his native city.

While in Lyons, assurances reached him that the Bishop of Rimini would willingly consent to his return on condition of a mere occasional conformity on his part. His worldly-wise kinsfolk in Lyons advised him to accept this assurance and return to Lucca. He pretended to accept their advice and set out; but turned aside on his homeward route and went to Geneva. Here he remained for four years among other exiles from his native city. He spent this time in correcting the defects in his education and securing as fully as possible a religious training.

In 1579, he migrated to Antwerp where he traded with such support as he received from his Italian connections in Geneva. He remained at Antwerp until 1585, pass- ing through the tremendous times of Parma's siege. He escaped through the Spanish lines just before the fall of the city. After leaving Netherlands, he stay- ed about two years at Bale and in 1587 moved to Zurich. Here.he entered into a partnership as a silk merchant with the Wertmuller family.

He married Camilla Burlamachi, daughter of a family of Italian compatriots, and they remained in Zurich for five years. He prospered though handicapped by ignorance of the language and by being prevented from trading in his own name with either Italy or Spain. The displeasure of the Church of Rome was still felt.

He returned to Geneva in 1592 and soon became the center of a family connection of great influence. Though the manufacture of flowered silks was his specialty, he added other interests and his banking interests became so extensive that he became the confidential banker of the republic. In 1620, he built the home in the rue de l'Hotel de Ville which is still occupied by his descendants. In 1627, he had the honor to be enrolled with his two oldest sons on the burgess roll of Geneva. He was a member of the TWO HUNDRED and of the SIXTY; so he may be said to have recovered for his family in its new home the position it had once held in the old. He died March 13, 1628, at the age of 82. His children were Benedict, Claire, Catherine, Jean, Zabetta, Marie, Claire 2nd (named for the Claire who had died), Cesar, Samuel, and five infants. ...
................End of Quotation.........

Francis's oldest son, Benedict (1588-1631), became the first of three generations of theologians of Geneva. They were stalwart Calvinists and their fame spread throughout Europe. Benedict became pastor in Geneva in 1612 and professor in 1618. His son, Francois Turretin (1623-1687), was pastor to the Italian congregation in Geneva, and after 1653 was professor of theology. He was born in Geneva, October 17, 1623. He visited Holland and France in his youth, studied under Spanheim, Mories, and Diodati and on his return in 1647 was ordained pastor at Geneva. In 1650 he removed to Lyden but in 1653 was recalled to Geneva to become professor of theology. He published ‘Institutiones Thelogion Elenchticoe’, a work still regarded as one of the clearest and most satisfactory statements of the Calvinistic doctrines. His complete works were published at Geneva in 1688 in four volumes. Francois Turretin's son, Jean Alphonse, ofter called Turretin the Younger, was born in Geneva in 1674, and died there in May 1737. He became professor of Ecclesiastical History at Geneva in 1705 and published ‘Ecrits sur la verit de le religion Judaique et de le reli ion Chritienne - Discourse Concernin the Fundamental Articles in Religion.’ He labored to promote a union of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches.

The thought is that the Turrittins of Ireland and America are descended from the Turrettinis of Lucca. The family name has been spelled several different ways, such as Turretine, Turretin, Turritin , and Turrentine.

The first known ancestor of the American Turrittins is the Reverend James Turrettin a Presbyterian minister in Calmon, County Derry, Ireland. It is thought that some member of the Turrettini family was associated with Calvin.and.Knax at Geneva and followed Knox to Scotland and had a part in the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Thomas Turrittin, in a paper dated Kasota, Minnesota, July 12, 1907, mentions what he knew of the early history of his family.

A sketch of the origin of the Turrittin
Family as far as the writer can trace
them. There were three brothers that
came from Scotland to Ireland, two
ministers as missionaries and one
doctor or medical man and they lived
there for several generations until
one Samuel Turrittin with his family
consisting of seven sons and one daughter,
emigrated to the United States of ,
America in the year of our Lord 1847.

Whether or not Reverend James Turrettin was one of the two missionaries Thomas Turrittin had reference to is impossible to tell now. He could have been. At any rate we do know several things about this man.

James Turrettin was born in the year 1700. He was ordained at Tobermore, County Londonderry, by the Presbytery of Tyrone on June 5, 1744. Notice he was forty-four years old before he was ordained. One wondars what he did during those first four decades of his life? He demitted this charge in 1748, but again consented to become their minister and was installed by the Presbytery early in 1750. In 1754, he moved to Ray, County Donegal, First Congregation, and was installed on June 13, 1754. He died at Rayon July 21, 1764, leaving a widow and family. He was buried in the old Abbey Churchyard, Manorcunningham, County Donegal. The inscription on his stone reads, "Also the body of the Revd. James Turrettin who departed this life July 21, 1764 & in the 64th year of his age & 24th year of his Ministry." He was succeeded after a long vacancy, by his son, Reverend Francis Turrattin, who was ordainad on January. 18, 1775. Later in 1788, Reverend Francis Turrettin moved to Mountnorris .

Reverend James Turrettin married Jain Combe (McComb), a daughter of Captain Combe, R. N., who is supposed to have married a sister of Charles Edward Stewart, the Young Pretender. Another daughter of Captain Comba, R. N., married John Geddes. Although the family tradition that Jain Combe Turrettin was of royal blood, and although the descendants of John Geddes have the same tradition, it is difficult to believe for it has been impossible to find a sister of the Young Pretender who married a Captain Combe, R. N. The Presbyterian Historical Society passes along the tradition with no effort to verify it or deny it. It would seem that the genealogy of the royal family of Stewart would-be so well recorded that verification would be simple for legitimate children. At any rate, this woman (Mrs. James Turrettin) must have been a remarkable person, for she lived to be one hundred and seven years old.

Reverend James and Jain (Combe) Turrettin had three sons, Hugh, a farmer, Francis, a minister, and George, who was licensed to preach, but became a medical man and practiced in Markehill. This Dr. George Turrettin had a son Dr. James Turrettin, who practiced in Derlit or Tullyallen. He also was licensed to preach.

Hugh Turrettin, son of Reverend James Turrettin, had a son, Hugh, who had a son Samuel, who came to America in 1847. This Samuel Turrettin (Turrittin) - the New World descendants changed the spelling of the name - is the progenitor of the Turrittin family in the United States.

The Turrittin family, as far as it has been established, began with a people of high ideals who helped to establish the Protestant religion. Always, the family has stood for religious ideals and education. Some of the most revered ancestors were ministers and educators.

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