52      HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

a distance of fourteen hundred miles, with mule teams. In the spring of
1867 he located in Brazil. Indiana. in the drug business. which he conduct-
ed in a successful manner until 1870, when he engaged in the woolen mill
business, continuing until 1884, when he was elected clerk of the Clay
county circuit court, which position he held four years; then acted as
deputy clerk for about four years more. He next engaged in the dry
goods trade and is at present associated with Wehrle & Sowar Company.
    Like many another of the up-to-date men of his times, Mr. Turner
is connected with civic societies, in which he has been deeply interested
for many years. He was made a Mason in July, 1866, in Cornelins Lodge,
No. 262. of Abingdon. Wayne county, Indiana. and now belongs to Cen-
tennial Lodge. No. 541, A. F. and A. M.; Brazil Chapter, No. 59, Royal
Arch Masons: Brazil Council, No. 40, R. & S. M.: Brazil Commandery,
No. 47, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 30,
Knights of Pythias, as well as holding membership with the Knights of
Honor fraternity. Politically, he supports the Democratic ticket and has
served as councilman in Brazil. He was united in marriage to Catherine
Wehrle. July 19. 1876. Mrs. Turner was born in Newark. Ohio. in 1853,
the daughter of Sebastian and Annie (Woolinsnider) Wehrle. (See
sketch of Frank J. Wehrle for family history.) The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Turner are as follows: Martha. wife of Dr. E. G. Glasgo,
of Brazil Indiana : Irene. wife of John H. Holliday, who now lives at
Washington, District of Columbia. where he is secretary to his father,
Hon. F. S. Holliday; Lester, who married Sadie Murphy; Loretta;
Wallace Clyde; Hubert.

    JOHN MILTON TURNER, well known in the vicinity of Brazil as a
business man, county official and a most excellent citizen, was born in
Wayne county, Indiana, June 22, 1847. son of Jeptha and Martha (Gaar)
Turner. On the father’s side Mr. Turner is from French extraction,
while on the maternal side he traces his lineage back to John and Eliza-
beth Gar, of German ancestry. The name is now spelled Gaar. John Car
was born in Bavaria, November 17, 1657, and died in that country, May
22, 1738. John and Elizabeth Gar were the parents of four children.
    Jeptha Turner, father, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, October
29, 1806, and died April 16, 1885. On January 14, 1830. he married
Miss Martha Gaar, born in Wayne county, September 25, 1810, and died
September 15, 1890. They were the parents of the following children:
Larkin C. : Levi P.: Abram W.; Sarah Jane. wife of John Endsley; Eliza
Ann; M. V. B.; John Milton; Martha Ellen, who died aged twenty-
eight years of age; Jesse D. Jeptha Turner, the father, was reared in
Wayne county, Indiana, and followed farm life. He was a member of
the Baptist church and in politics a Democrat. His parents were John
and Mary (Holman) Turner, the former being a native of Kentucky who
came to Indiana at a very early day and became a pioneer in that state.
He was the first sheriff of Wayne county and spent his life on the farm.
    John M. Turner remained with his parents until twenty-two years
of age, then went to Brazil as the manager of a woolen mill, which he
followed three years, then engaged in merchandising business with Will-
iam II. Shannon. In 1879 he was made deputy county treasurer under
Leason B. Pruner, and in 1881 be was appointed deputy county auditor
under James T. Casteel, where he continued between five and six years,
after which he embarked in the hardware business. In 1900 he engaged