The First Presbyterian Church of Kasota, Minnesota

At this point in this narrative it would be worth while to consider the Turrittins and their relation to the First Presbyterian Church at Kasota, Minnesota. As already noted, the Turrittins were staunch Calvinists and it was only natural for members of the family to embrace the Presbyterian faith. This was especially true of the sons and daughters that settled in and near the small Minnesota village of Kasota. At one point in the history of the Presbyterian Chuch in Kasota, there were so many Turrittins active in the congregation that jokingly the church was called the "Presbyterrittin Church". All of the following material has been taken from the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Booklet (1875-1950), for the church at Kasota.

The First Presbyterian Church of Kasota was organized on May 16,1875. It grew out of an extensive revival of religion at St. Peter, the leader of which was Rev. Welton. About forty persons who had been converted under his preaching and who lived in the Kasota vicinity became its charter members, after having been dismissed from the Union Presbyterian Church of St. Peter. John S. Turrittin and Gilman E. Hannam were elected the first Elders.

On July 1, 1885, the First Presbyterian Church of Kasota was chartered and signed by the following trustees: Charles Babcock, Harry W. Clapp, Obed Metcalf and Robert Turrittin. The first chairman of the newly chartered Church was John Turrittin and the secretary was Harrie Clapp.

Of the forty charter members of the Church eight were either Turrittins or married to Turrittins. They were Eva Clark Turrittin, Lucy Turrittin Warrant, Wilhelmina Turrittin, Susan A. Turrittin, John S. Turrittin, James B. Turrittin, Hannah S. Turrittin and Frank E. Turrittin. The above names were taken from the St. Peter Session record for March 8,10, and April 3, 1875, by Rev. F. C. Bailey.

Note: Lucy Turrittin Warrant was Festus Warrant's (Grandpa Warrant) Mother. She was a half sister to the grandfather of the Charles Turrittin that we knew as Mother's contemporary.

During the history of the Church three Turrittins have held the position of Ruling Elder: John S. Turrittin, May 13" 1875; David S. Turrittin, January 28,1900; and Charles Turrittin, April 4,1944.

When the present congregation was organized in 1875, the Sunday school formed part of the basis for the new church. Gilman E. Hannam became superintendent followed by John Turrittin. How long these men served and the later superintendents served, we are unable to discover. These men were succeeded by: ...David Turrittin. ...

The Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church of Kasota was organized Wednesday, March 19, 1879. There were six members as follows: Mesdames E. C. Payne, A. E. Clark, S. E. Hugunin, R. R. Turrittin, John Turrittin, and M. E. Babcock. The members lived far apart and when the weather'was bad they'were not able to hold meetings. In the fifth year it was decided to serve tea and from then on the interest increased. During these years the women in the Turrittin and Clapp families have held different offices in the society. There were eleven members at this time.

The Ladies' Aid Society of First Presbyterian Church of Kasota was organized on January 8, 1889. The following were among the charter members of 1890: Mrs. Hugh Turrittin, Mrs. Thomas Turrittin, Mrs. James Turrittin; Mrs. John Turrittin, Mrs. Robert Turrittin, Mrs. Wash Turrittin, and Mrs. M. E. Babcock. They held meetings twice a month; meeting at the homes, doing work for members and anyone wanting quilts quilted, comfortables tied, and sewing carpet rags. They tied comforters for $00.50, quilts for $1.50 and .10 and .15 an afternoon's work of sewing carpet rags.

As can be seen from the above examples, the Turrittins were active members of the Kasota Presbyterian Church and in the advancement of Christianity in south central Minnesota.

(Pages 27-43 ommitted. Contain information on other children of Samul Turrittin)

Lucinda M Turrittin Warrant

Lucinda M Turrittin was born in Jefferson township near West Unity. Williams County. Ohio. on December 18. 1850. She was the oldest daughter of Samuel Turrittin and his second wife, Frances Oliver Snow Turrittin. Lucinda was named after her grandmother Oliver. The middle initial in her name does not stand for a middle name. When she attended the Bryan Academy she needed a middle name or at least an initial and so she selected an 'M'.

Lucy grew to womanhood on her father's farm. while her father saw that she received one of the best educations possible for women at the time. She started her advanced education at the Bryan Academy. in the county seat of Williams County. Professor Charles W. Mykrants founded this school. or Mykrants Academy, in 1864 in a two-story brick building on the corner of North Lynn and Mulberry Streets, and the college con- tinued in operation until 1874. Classes were conducted on the first floor, and the second floor was used as living quarters for male students. The college started with forty pupils. and in time the enrollment reached two hundred, with many of the leading citizens of the area receiving their higher education there. In 1874 the college was discontinued, and Prefessor Mykrants was named superintendent of the Bryan public schools. He sold his academy building to the Bryan school board, and it was used as a public high school until 1885.

After she graduated from the academy. Lucy taught school in Williams County for two years. Several of her half-brothers -Thomas, Hugh. James. John. and Robert -were living in Minnesota and after giving it much thought. she decided to join them in the Gopher state. At the same time her father; Samuel Turrittin. would not let her marry a certain young man. because he had no money. In fact he, Samuel. broke up a second affair for the same reason. At this point, August of 1870, her mother died and all of the foregoing proved to be contributing factors to her going to Minnesota. especially the death of her mother.

Lucinda went west to Minnesota. February 14. 1871. teaching at what was known as the Turrittin school the following summer. She spent sometime at Mankato Normal School in Mankato. Minnesota. The following school year. 1872, she taught in the Warrant district. It was here that she met"her- future husband, Charles N. Warrant. Lucinda was said to have been a very pretty pink-cheeked girl and since they had no lip stick in. those days she would bite her lips to make them red before going on a date. Charles and Lucinda were married May I. 1873.

They settled on a farm in Kasota township. Le Sueur County. Minnesota, where they. lived for the next. thirty-one years. In 1904 they retired from farm life and moved. to the village of Kasota, living there until the fall of l918 when they moved to Minneapolis. About a month before her death she came back to Kascta from Minneapolis and began taking treatments of the famiiy physician, Dr. J. W. Daniels. Mrs. Warrant had not been in good health for a number of years but the winter of 1918-1919 was a season of much suffering for her. In spite of all Dr. Danials could do for her, she grew steadily weaker and died on Wednesday morning February 26, 19l9, at the home of her son, Festus Lloyd Warrant. The immediate cause of her death was cancer of the liver.

This writer has received several kind letters from Mrs. Pearl B. Lapham of 3361 S.E.6 Kelly Street Portland 2, Oregon, a granddaughter of the Warrants, which give an intimate and first hand account of the Warrant's farm life in Minnesota. With Mrs. Lapham's permission, the following quotes have been taken from her latters:

Portland, Oregon
22 August 1965

Dear Mr. Doughten,

It came to me this week that I had not
told you of my earliest childhood memories
of my grandparents. If you were at my brother
Lloyd's home, you saw the site of the farm
home where they lived so many years. It was
across the road from Lloyd's on the north side
of the road dividing Le Sueur County, where
they lived from Blue Earth County, where my
parent's home was located.

The house was a large gray rambling
structure, set-well.back from.the road. I
remember the yellow painted. kitchen floor and
a down stairs bedroom off it which was the
neighborhood post office which my grandmother
kept. The living room was closed most of the
time and beyond that was the spare bed room
where I remembered I came to once or twice
after being carried there while ill -probably
with pneumonia, which I had several times in
childhood.

The grounds were beautiful. In the spacious
yard, was a large maple tree where my grandfather
had put up a swing. On the west side were lilac
bushes which bloomed profusely in springtime.
There was an old fashioned rose called "Seven
Sisters", which grandmother cherished in memory
of her own -though there were not quite seven.
It was a rather small rose, probably in clusters
and was a medium rose in color and it seems
I remember a slight bluish cast.

They had several kinds of berries and
currants in the garden and grandmother made
all sorts of jams and jellies .

An unusually fine orchard. was behind all
this and I. can still taste the good flavor
of the Wealthys, Transparents and the several
other good varieties grandfather planted.
Along the road in front was a row of poplar
trees., where I used to day dream during the
long summer days..

When I was about eight, they tore down the
house and used much of the lumber to build the
new house in Kasota. That was the one on the
hill where Aunt Louise now lives. They sold
the farm and divided the money and each built
two cottages to rent. They are down the hill
and across the street west of the hill house
and across the street north of Uncle Hugh's
and Aunt Fannie-s where Maude Whiteman grew up.
I hope some one showed you all these. Uncle
Robert's home was just south of Aunt Fannie's.
About a block farther north were Uncle Tom's
and Uncle John's homes, where they went to
live when they left their farms.

My grandparents left the farm so grandmother
would not have to work so hard. But my mother
used to say that she worked far harder in town,
as she usually boarded a couple of teachers
and I stayed there while I went to high school.
It grieved my grandfather to leave the country.
He used to come back to the farm until the barn
was finally torn down, too. There would be
tears in his eyes.

I remember his taking me with him when
he went to bury Flory a favorite horse which
died of bloat one hot summer day. It was back
of the farm on the north edge and he buried
her in the ravine and he cried.

I believe this was about the site of their
first small home, which burned when the children
were small. Grandfather was a very gentle man
and kind to every one.

It is your privilege to sift and pick
what you wish to include in your book, and I
do not wish to burden you with details which
you do not consider essential. I realize they
are all just "words" which could be repeated
in a million histories across our land, but
for those of us who loved them, they have a
meaning. I think this is it now, and I wish
you well in your undertaking.
--Sincerely,
Pearl B. Lapham

The following. also is from one of Mrs. Lapham's letters, dated lS August.1965:

...My grandmother was a-high spirited girl -
in fact remained so all her life and was always
a leader in whatever progressive movement
that took place in her neighborhood.

She worked very hard on the farm -worked
right in the sugar cane fields and made butter
and took it and eggs to customers in Mankato.

She loved music and they were able to buy
a musical instrument for each of the three
children. I do not remember what Festus and
Elmer had, but my mother, Daisy, had a reed
organ. A good teacher came to the house and my
mother did very well. ...

Grandmother was not able to go back to
visit in Ohio for some years. In fact, when
she finally could go, she left the two boys
home with their father and took my mother with
her when she was a few years old. I do not
remember whether her father was still living
or not.

She always loved Ohio and her visits back
were the high lights of her life. Grandfather
went with her once -I think the next to the
last time she went. He was so lonely that last
time, that she said she would never go again. ...

The last quote is from a letter written by Mrs. Lapham, dated 7 November 1965:

...One more memory. One sunny day when I was
a small child, a surrey (yes -with the fringe
on top) full of grandmothers nephews, probably
all Uncle Jim's boys, came to visit her. I re-
member listening to them sing from across the
road at our house. They sang the old Southern
songs outside the house after dinner and I know
grandmother loved it, as much as she loved
having them come. Young folks loved her and she
was universally known as Aunt Lucy to all as
well as her own kin.

Sometime after the death of his wife, Charles Warrant married his sister-in-Law, Mrs. Mary Jane Turrittin Benjamin, a widow at the time. He had married Mrs. Benjamin about a year before her death, in 1922, and had left Minnesota to take her back to Kansas, where her children were living, in the hope her health would be-better. They made their home with her younger daughter, Gertrude. But she died in Kansas and he went on to Colorado and stayed a year or so before he went back to his daughter's (Daisy Belle) home in Minnesota. Here he spent his last years.

Lucinda Warrant always took..an active part in the affairs of the community in which she lived. For twelve years she served as assistant postmistress at the Lake Washington, Minnesota, postoffice serving that same length of time on the Lake Washington school board. For many years she superintended the Mission Sunday School held in the school house in District No. 100 and it was said that her home was a favorite stopping place for the Sunday School missionaries and preachers. After moving to Kasota she served on the local school board. Mrs. Warrant was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church at Kasota, Minnesota, serving as its treasurer for several years and also of the different organizations of the church.

Her funeral services were held at the Presbyterian Church, Reverend F. C. Bailey officiating. She was buried in the Kasota Cemetery. Her husband, who was born in 1850, lived twelve more years. He died in 1931 and was buried next to his first wife.

Eli Turrittin

Eli 'Turrittin, the second son of Samuel and Frances Turrittin, was born on his father's farm near West Unity, Ohio, September 10, 1852. At the age of twenty-six he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet E. Mattocks on September 22, 1878. To this union five children were born: Roy T., George Francis, Harley, Ethel, and Bess. Uncle Eli spent the greater part of his life in Stryker, Ohio, a few miles from his place of birth. For the greater part of his life he worked for Mr. George Beucler in Stryker. Mr. Beucler was a hay and straw dealer and Eli helped him in this business. Eli united with the United Brethern Chruch when he was still a young man. He had been in failing health for about three years before he died and moved to South Bend, Indiana, near where his daughter Bess made her home. He died on November 5, 1925, at his home in South Bend, at the age of seventy-three years. Reverend Townsend conducted the funeral services. Both he and his wife are buried. in Shiffler's Cemetery, Williams County, Ohio, next to the graves of his father and mother.

pages 50-56 omitted.



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