Clara Ellen Turley

Clara Ellen Turley (Mrs. George Jasper Walser (1881-1933)

The Theodore Turley Family Book, pp. 421-423

Clara Ellen Turley Walser (Nelle), daughter of Isaac and Clara Ann Tolton Turley, was born July 13, 1881 in Snowflake, Arizona. She was the seventh of twelve children born to Isaac and Clara. When four years of age, she with her father's family moved to, and made their home in Colonia Juarez, Mexico, a Mormon colony then being established by a group of families of that faith. In her early childhood she went through many of the hardships and privations incident to early pioneer life and gained an accumulation of experiences that assisted her in solving problems in later life.

Nelle attended school under successive teachers, viz. John M. MeFar1in, Annie C, Romney, Dennis E. Harris and wife. She attended this school until the Colonies in Mexico were organized into the Juarez Stake, and the Juarez Academy was established in 1895. Nelle was a member of the first graduating class four years later. At the age of 14 she became a member of the Juarez Ward Choir, which was also the Stake Choir, under the direction of John J. Walser. She also was a member of the Colonia Juarez Dramatic Association under the direction of Miles Romney. At the age of sixteen she was sustained as secretary of Colonia Juarez Sunday School, which position she held until she left to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for medical treatment in 1904. Her treatment proved successful.

She was married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 29,1904 to George Jasper Walser, son of John Jacob Walser and Annie Elizabeth Louisa Schaerrer Walser. Four of their eleven children were born in Colonia Juarez. In Sept. 1909 George found it necessary to go to Miami, Arizona to seek employment to help pay for the home they had purchased in Mexico. Early in 1910, Nelle and the four children joined George in Miami. The reunion was soon saddened by the death of their son Gordon on April 19, 1910. He was buried the following day in the cemetery in Globe, Arizona, seven miles from Miami.

In May, 1910 a fire broke out in a house near theirs and was not brought under control until it had destroyed nineteen other houses including their own. They lost practically everything but their clothing and bedding. Until they could procure a place to live, George's sister Matilda and her husband, Albert C. Wagner, provided a place for the family to stay. Within a few days a two-room tent-house was built and made ready to move into. This served nicely until Autumn. Enough money had been saved during this time to finish payment on the home in Mexico. By this time the Madera Revolution had broken out, and as their home in Colonia Juarez was unoccupied, the decision was made to have the family return to Mexico to look after things and take care of any situation that might arise. In early spring of 1911, George returned to Mexico to be with his family.

It soon became apparent it would be unsafe to remain in Mexico with the families until the Revolution should be terminated, for the country was being overrun by irresponsible roving bands of rebels. On July 17, 1912 Nellie Eva was born. Due mostly to the exciting times caused by the political situation, Nelle didn't get along well after the birth of this child. It was decided that all the Colonists would leave July 29 for the United States, to remain there until the country quieted down, so Nelle was taken aboard the train on a cot. They arrived in El Paso, Texas in the morning of July 30 and were taken to a large enclosure which had previously been used as a horse corral and a lumber yard. As that was no fit place for a sick wife and new infant, a large house was obtained temporarily where the family as well as George�s parents and three other families were housed. In a short time, all began to recuperate from the strain and make plans for the future. Within a month they returned to Miami where employment and housing had been procured. On Nov. 8, 1913 Robert Eugene was born and six months later on May 26, 1914, he died following an illness of chicken pox, complicated by boils. He was buried the following day in the Final Cemetery, Miamia, Arizona. Paul Leroy was born March 10, 1915, the fifth son and seventh child. On Dec. 18, 1916 Joseph Jasper was born. On April 3, 1919 Karl Loraine was born. When about eighteen months of age he became suddenly ill with colitis and died on Sept. 10, 1920 and was buried the next day in the Final Cemetery. January 13, 1921 Aubrey Charles was born and Anthon Harold, the last child, was born Aug. 26, 1922.

Nelle was quite active in Church, civic, and social organizations. She was instrumental in establishing the Parent-Teacher Organization in Miami, becoming its president in the high school. She later was an organizer of P.T.A. in Greenlee, Gila, and Graham counties. She was in the presidency of the Relief Society; teacher in the Genealogical Society; President of the Woman's Club and Literary Society; Director of the Girl Reserves of the YWCA; etc.

In 1933 she began to show signs of failing health. She failed to improve under the care of the doctors in Miami so went to Mare Island, California on Sept. 3, 1933 to be with her daughter, Ruth, who was a nurse in the U.S. Navy stationed at the hospital there. Upon examination by the doctors, surgery was deemed necessary for removal of a toxic goiter. She was hospitalized in hopes of improving her physical condition prior to the operation. On Sept. 28 surgery was performed and she died later that day, after a sudden change in condition. She was taken home to Miami for the funeral and burial Oct, 3, 1933. All of her family were present when she arrived home. There were represented at the funeral fifteen different religious, civic, fraternal, political, and social organizations who attended in bodies or groups. It was the largest funeral ever held in Miami up to that time. She was laid to rest in the family plot beside two of her sons who preceded her in death. She was a beloved wife and mother and was greatly missed.

Her husband, George Jasper Walser, married Margaret Layton, a school teacher, on June 1, 1949 in the Salt Lake Temple. She was born Aug. 7, 1882 in Kaysville, Utah to Christopher and Jane Elizabeth Bodily Layton. Margaret died May 21, 1956 in Salt Lake City and was buried in Kaysville, Utah. George died June 25, 1965 in Salt Lake City and was also buried in Kaysville.