Casey County KyArchives News.....AMOS TURPIN OF ROUGH RIDGE, NEAR PHIL, OFFERS SEVEN OF NINE CHILDREN FOR ADOPTION July 17 1947 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nancy Ellett http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002501 August 31, 2004, 2:39 am THE CASEY COUNTY NEWS,1947 Amos Turpin, 37 years old, of Rough Ridge, and father on nine handsome children came came to the Casey County News on Friday of last week and told the editor he wished to notify the public that he had seven children he was willing to give legal adoption rights to. Upon futher questioning Mr. Turpin had said it became impossible for him to take care of this large group of chidren by himself and offer them a proper standard of living. His wife left him with the baby some 21 months ago for parts unknown when the youngest of the chidren was only six weeks old. Realizing that the story of such a mass offer of children was a story bigger than The casey County News should hoard, and in an effort to get wider publicity than Casey County ,the editor asked Mr. Turpin if he might send the story to The Associated Press. To this Mr. Turpin agreed. The story was sent to the Lexington branch of The Associated Press Friday after lunch and hit the front pages of practically every daily newspaper east of the Rockies. Before nightfall the editor had already recieved two long distance telephone calls asking for the two of the children. One was transfered by a telephone operator from Danville who had been eaves-dropping while the story was sent in. In an attempt to verify the facts of the story through another source other than the original sender, the AP called County Attorney Oliver Popplewell and asked for additional information. Mr. Popplewell, who had not been included in the original offer of the children by Mr. Turpin, knew nothing of the facts, but the AP used his name profusely in the first story. Due to these circumstances, Mr. Popplewell began getting long-distance telephone calls before he had arrived at the court house offices on Saturday morning. The calls continued to come through almost uninterrupted until ten o'clock when Joe Riester, special reporter and photographer for the Courier-Journal and AP, came to consult him and the editor of the News. After talking to Mr. Riester, Popplewell and Burkhard went with Riester to see the children and get photographs of them. Mr. Popplewell did not accompany them to the home. Rough Ridge, it was found, lies upon a plateau about three or four miles from Phil. It looks much like other sections of the county not yet touched by good roads. And it should be explained that the people residing there are cordial and helpful,just as in other sections of the county. All nine of the children were found at home upon arrival of the party. They already were informed of the plans for giving them for adoption and all those old enough to appreciate the facts were anxious to make the change. Every one of the seven children offered for better homes are handsome with dark eyes, fair skin, and well built bodies. While they are ill-clothed and undoubtedly do not get anything like a normal diet, they show no indication of being starved. Not one of them show any sign of disease which might easily go with malnutrition. One little girl had a small burn on her arm and some of the boys had sores on their feet from the usual effects of going barefooted and stumping the toe on hard objects- something few youngsters in Casey have the privilige of going, or having gone, without, including the editor of the News. The children themselves who have now become familiar with everyone reading a daily paper are;Earl, 17, who is small for his age, recently broke his arm, and is the general manager and comforter of the family. James, 15, does the cooking when his father is gone, and helps run the tribe. The children which were offered new homes are;Ollie, 12, who has new overalls and t-shirt, and having gone to school some, appears adult and cleaner than the others. Arvil, 11, has an infectious smile, is unusually handsome, and lovable to the extent of wanting to be loved and handled more than the others. Frankie, 9, and Chester, 10, are slightly darker complected than the others which gives their friendly grins and naturally white teeth contrast. Being younger, they are slightly more shy than their older brothers. Bertha is 5 and Lorette is 4. Both are blond and considerably fairer skinned than the others. They have chubby faces, dark eyes and make friends immediately with strangers; they are still too young to appreciate all that is going on in their behalf. A neighbor said,"Them two little girls should find a home togather. They are the nicest little girls I have ever seen." Louie, who is perhaps 22 months old,judging from the best information ( none of the ages are certain) was left by his mother when he was six weeks old. His older brothers have done a good job raising him. He is as normal before srangers as the average child of his age and a chubby and lovable child. A haircut, clean clothes and a good nap would make him considerably more handsome than the average youngster his age. Sunday, Harold Littell, photographer for the AP, took additional photographs of the children. He was on hand when Attorney Popplewell drove up with seven cars loaded with prospective foster parents from Louisville, Beuchel, Lexington, Harrodsburg, Danville and other places. The caravan went through the house and upon finding no food of any kind, donated $25 on the spot and gave the money to a neighbor with instructions to get food into the house immediately, "good substantial food," and indicated that there was more money where this came from for the sme purpose. Meanwhile, the six younger children were taken from the home by foster parents and are scattered throughout the state. Bertha is in Louisville where she has already been given an entire new wardrobe, a permanent, and judging from photographs in the Courier-Journal, is as beautiful in appearance as she is in personality. Legal adoption will come through the State Welfare Department. The Welfare Department will keep the chidren temporarily and then turn them over to responsible families for adoption. Before that happens the Casey County Circuit Court will release the chidren to the custody of the welfare department. Mr. Turpin spent the weekend in the county jail on three charges dealing with breach-of-peace and contributing to the delinquency of minors. He will have a hearing on one of the charges in county court under Judge S.T. Griffith Wednesday morning at 9:00 0'clock. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/casey/newspapers/gnw25amosturp.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/