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Charles Dennis Turley (1881-1942)

 The Theodore Turley Family Book, pp. 266-268

Charles Dennis Turley, the tenth child of Isaac and Sarah Greenwood Turley, was born August 4, 1881 in Snowflake, Arizona. He lost his mother at the age of six years, and from that time on was raised by the loving mother of his brothers and sisters.  Sarah had twelve children and Clara had twelve.

Father was very close to his sister Nellie (Clara Ellen) who was the same age.  He was a very obedient boy and never gave his folks cause to worry.  He taught his younger brother, Isaac. Jr., to milk and do the chores around the house, and never scolded his younger brothers and sisters.  He loved them all very much.

Life was very primitive in the Colonies at this time.  They lived in stockades and small homes.  There were no streets or roads.  Charles helped his father plant the first orchard in Colonia Juarez.  The trees were brought in from San Bernardino.  At 18, Charles went to work in the mines at Sonora.  He be came a brick mason and helped build the mill at Pearson.  He came back home after two years and his folks were very upset with him as he had taken up smoking.  He married Myrtle Hatch, born January 10, 1884 in Pleasanton, New Mexico, in September of 1902. Myrtle passed away Sept. 5, 1919 leaving two children living:  Jay and Pauline.

On Febr. 19, 1920 Charles married Roberta Wood  born Nov. 6, 1901 in Colonia Juarez, daughter of Peter Cotton and Lucy Jane Flake Wood. She was twenty years younger than he and just four years older than Jay and seven years older than Pauline.

As you can see, we moved a lot.  Daddy worked on the Temple in Mesa.  He was foreman of the masonry work.  He did the decorating work with the terra cotta, the Pioneers and Handcarts. We then moved to the Indian reservation and Daddy built hospitals and schools for the government at the following locations:  Fort Wingate, Shiprock, Tohatchi, and Fort Defiance.  We lived in Gallup and Daddy worked during the day and also at night, setting boilers at the mines at Camerco.

In Farmington we lived on a farm and raised our own food as well as some to sell.  There was a very large apple orchard as well as other fruit.  While in Farmington, Daddy also worked at the Chaco Canyon Indian ruins, helping to rebuild portions of them.  We have visited them and it is well worth the trip to see such a magnificent city of ancient times. These were probably people of the Book of Mormon.

The last move as a family was in 1934 to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Daddy and Mother both worked here and we older children did some babysitting.  Daddy was having a hard time getting work because of his age and also not feeling well. I believe the cancer had started growing by this time.  Mother worked for the government, teaching the Indian women how to can, so Daddy stayed home and took care of the fields and livestock and we three youngest.  I was old enough to help him and he taught me to do a lot of things, including the art of making bread.  We worked in the fields, milked the cows, and drove a team of horses.  I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.  Father very seldom scolded us.  I can't remember him ever raising his voice in anger.  He had the patience of Job.

Daddy was well liked by all who knew him.  He worked hard all of his life, sometimes holding two jobs.  We know that our father was a fine man and pray we are a credit to

him.