95th Birthday

Submitted by Mary Turney Miller

Arkansas Democrat, Sunday, May 6, 1951

"AUNT ANN" CELEBRATES
- Clinton -
One of Van buren county's oldest citizens, Mrs. Angelet Elizabeth Thomas, celebrated her 95th birthday recently in the home of her son, J. A. "Jim" Thomas, mayor of Clinton. four generations were present for the occasion: "Aunt Ann," as she is popularly known, at center; Mr. Thomas, at left; his daughter, Mrs Floy Berkowitz, right; and her young son, Jim Bill, standing. Also present for the day were her daughters, Mrs. Pearl Williams, Pacific Grove, Calif., and Mrs. Mollie Caplinger, Fordyce.

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"Aunt Ann" was born at Higden Van Buren county, April 16, 1856, the daughter of the late Abraham Turney and Amanda Gray Turney, both of whom were born in that same neighborhood. She was married May 19, 1872, to Frank Thomas, a Confederate veteran, who was a Methodist minister and a doctor. She is the mother of 13 children, 11 of whom lived to maturity, and nine of whom are still living. "Aunt Ann" has vivid recollections of some of the events of the Civil War. She remembers that her father was in the Army and deserted long enough to come home when her little sister died. She can tell detail about a trip her mother and two neighbor women took to Little Rock from Higden, in an ox wagon, to see her father who was very ill with some kind of fever. The three women, five small children, and two neighbor boys almost grown, who were taken along to drive and take care of the team, made the trip in one wagon. The trip took more than three days and they camped out at night. When time came to come home her father was not well enough for her mother to leave him, so she sent the children back with the other women to stay with their grandparents until she returned.

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Angelet was the sister to my Thomas Lafayette Turney who was born 1860. Their sister Mary died during the war, other children born after the war.
The parents of Angelet were:
1. Abraham Adams Turney born 1832 Smith Co TN s/o Peter and Hannah Turney. The family moved to Arkansas around 1835. Peter died 1842 near Higden, Hannah died during 1860s. Peter was born 1795 s/o Henry Turney who died 1843 Dekalb Co TN. Peter and Hannah married in 1812 in Smith County Tennessee.
2. Amanda Gray born 1836 TN, the daughter of Thomas Gray and Nancy Eldridge of Tennessee....they arrived near Higden about 1836 or so. Nancy was the d/o Jared Eldridge of Lincoln County Tennessee. One of Amanda Gray's sisters was Elizabeth "Betty" Gray Barnum.