Abraham Turgeon
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On Thanksgiving Day, November 14, 1877, Abraham Turgeon, Sr. and Margaret Landeaux were united in marriage in a double marriage ceremony with Margaret's sister, Adelle, who was married to William Emery. Margaret Landeaux (1858-1928) was born to Maurice and Margaret Hart Landeaux (1823-1928) in Rulo, Nebraska. Maurice Landeaux, her father, was born in Mexico the son of a French fur trader from Canada. Maurice, a freighter, used mules to freight supplies out of Rulo. Nebraska. Margaret Turgeon was left widowed with four young children to raise. During haying season she was married to George Pete. The family journeyed to Gregory County, Rosebud Reservation settling on Margaret's half-section in Sections 3 and 10 of Herrick Twp. Her children were each allotted one quarter in Section 10 and 15, Herrick Twp. Abraham, Jr. attended St. Francis Mission in Todd County, receiving his diploma April 25, 1897, signed by Fr. Florentine Digmann, the founder of the school. |
Margaret and George Pete became the parents of a daughter, Nettie (Biggins) and a son, Maurice A. born November 19, 1901, who died January 6, 1902 and was buried in the Emery Cemetery north of Burke, S.D. Early in 1904 they made their residence in the new village of Burke, S.D. To accommodate the teams and saddle horses of the populace and surrounding countryside, George built one of the first livery barns in Burke. He supervised the construction of the first Burke theatre, also setting up a harness shop. In 1917 he and his step-son Abraham, Jr. employed Otto Scholes to erect a cement block building, the present Gamble Store.
Margaret (Landeaux) Turgeon Pete passed away in Burke in 1926. She lived to attain the age of 68 years. George Pete died July 13, 1947 in Burke, S.D. Their children: Susan married Earl Ford; Alvina married Frank Ducharme, son of Papineau who operated a trading post on the river. Frank Ducharme also built the first pool hall building in Burke, just across the street to the south of Connell and Madole, on west main. Joseph married Josephine Bemment; Abraham, Jr. married Marie Dolezal and Nettie married James Biggins.
More About MARGARET "MAGGIE" LANGDEAU:
Date born 2: 1856, Nebraska264
Date born 3: September 1857, Nebraska265
Date born 4: November 03, 1858, Rulo, Richardson County, Nebraska
Baptism: February 26, 1860266
Burial: Sacred Heart Cemetery, Burke, Gregory County, South Dakota
Census: 1860, Richardson County, Nebraska, page 257
Census 2: 1870, Township 2, Range 17, Richardson County, Nebraska, page 7
Census 3: 1880, Charles Mix County, Dakota Territory, page 233A
Census 4: 1900, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Meyer County, South Dakota, page 19B
Census 5: 1920, Burke, Gregory County, South Dakota, page 1A
Land Patent: July 01, 1901, Gregory County, South Dakota, 360 acres267
Land Patent 2: June 21, 1907, Gregory County, South Dakota, 80 acres268
Land Patent 3: June 21, 1907, Gregory County, South Dakota, 200 acres269
Value of Real Estate: 1860, $1000
Abraham Turgeon References
Notes for ABRAHAM BENJAMIN TURGEON:
From "The Saga of Sully Flats," by Adeline S. Gnirk, published 1977, by Gregory Times-Advocate, Gregory, South Dakota, page 322-323.
Abraham B. Turgeon Sr. (1847-1890) was born to Casare and Jane (Tracy) Turgeon near Beaumont, Bellechasse County in the province of Quebec, Canada. Beaumont was located on the south side of the St. Lawrence River. Abraham, Sr. the eldest son of Casare and Jane, departed the land of his birth alone for Fort Chicago, Illinois. Here he labored as a blacksmith for about a year. He journeyed through the Northwest Territory into Dakota Territory coming to Fort Randall. He located in the Wheeler area across the river from Fort Randall. He had contracted from the U.S. Government a managership of the freight lines from the Agency of White Swan through Deadwood and on to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. He was responsible for nineteen freight wagons pulled by teams on oxen. Abraham sent word to his brothers in Canada to join him. Louis and Phillip arrived first, followed in 1880 by Ludger, Onesenme, Benjamin and their three sisters, Laida, Oralee and Auror. Louis and Phillip became drivers of the Conestoga freight wagons for Abraham, Sr. Ludger, Onesenme and Benjamin freighted to the gold mines in the Black Hills. A trip, if all went well, required about one month of steady driving in a wagon train. It was necessary to be alert for hostiles, therefore, one driver was a vigilante during the night; each driver took a turn.
After their marriage Abraham, Sr. and Margaret (Landeaux) Turgeon made their home near Wheeler, S.D. Abraham, Sr. managed his government freight lines employing his brothers as drivers. They became the parents of four children, Joseph, Alvina, Abraham, Jr. and Susan. Abraham, Sr. died in Wheeler, S.D. in 1890, when his son, Abraham, Jr. was six years old.
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From "Saga Of The Missouri River Reveille," by Adeline S. Gnirk, published 1981, by Gregory Times-Advocate, Gregory, South Dakota, page 48.
Abraham Turgeon was manager for the U.S. Freight run which operated from White Swan to Wheeler, and thence to Deadwood, and Fort Laramie, Wyoming. His brothers Ludger, Onesime, Louis, and Phillip were drivers employed by him. First oxen and then mules were used to pull the heavy freight wagons. One or two drivers would command fifteen to twenty-five wagons. Each wagon and team hitched to each team in one long string. A run to Deadwood took three to four months.
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Abraham Turgeon from Canada, with residence on a claim near Wheeler, was employed by the U.S. Government to manage an ox drawn freight run from White Swan, Wheeler, to Fort Pierre and thence to the Black Hills. His brothers, Louis, Ludger, Onesime, and Phillip were his drivers. Freight drivers were the lifeline of these areas and a run took three months.
Page 448-449
Abraham was the first of the Turgeon boys to come to Dakota Territory and was hired by the U.S. Government to freight from White Swan to Wheeler and to Deadwood and Fort Laramie, Wyoming. In 1878 he hired his brothers, Onesime, Louis, and Phillip to drive for him the ox drawn freighter wagons. So they came to Dakota Territory from Canada.
Abraham Turgeon was born October 25, 1847 in Beaumont, Belle Chasse County, Canada. As the eldest of the boys to venture form the home nest, he arrived at Boston, Massachusetts where he learned the blacksmith trade which he followed for several years in Boston. He came to Dakota Territory in 1865 and located at Fort Sully on the upper Missouri River where he engaged in cutting wood and putting to supply to government post for several years. He managed the U.S. freight run from White Swan, Wheeler to Fort Pierre and to the Black Hills. He summoned his brothers from Canada - Louis, Ludger, Onesime, and Phillip to drive the slow ponderous oxen freight wagons for him. He hauled goods of his own and sold in the Hills on his first freighting adventure. The rate of charge on transportation of goods was $6 per hundred pounds. At night the train was corralled and picketed to guard against hostile Indians. Abraham and his brothers, Louis and Onesime worked together cutting wood to supply Fort Randall. He took three claims on the Missouri River and engaged in livestock raising and agriculture.
Abraham Turgeon was married to Margaret Landeaux who was born September 12, 1858 in Rullo, Nebraska to Maurice and Margaret (Hart) Landeaux. Abraham and Margaret Turgeon were the parents of five children: Joseph, Abraham Jr., Alvina (Ducharme), Susan (Ford), and Louis deceased. Abraham Turgeon met his death September 10, 1890 on his ranch as the result of mistakenly taking medicine from the wrong bottle. He was buried at Wheeler.
Benjamin Turgeon
Benjamin Turgeon was born December 14, 1867 in Bellechasse County, Province of Quebec, Canada, to Casare and Jane (Tracy) Turgeon. Casare Turgeon was of French descent and Jane Tracy had immigrated to Canada from London, England. They were the parents of six sons: Abraham, Louis, Phillip, Ludger, Onesenme and Benjamin, and three daughters Laida (Turgeon), Oralee Culet and Auror Labracque. Benjamin was an intelligent, able, versatile and self-sufficient man. He had scarcely and eighth grade education but he was far ahead of his time. He became a rancher and a leader in the Whetstone Valley later to be named Turgeon Twp. He served as Gregory County Commissioner for four years.
Benjamin Turgeon journeyed to Dakota Territory from Canada about 1880, to the trading post of Wheeler in Charles Mix County. Benjamin, the youngest of the family, accompanied his brothers Ludger and Onesenme who joined their older brothers Abraham, Louis and Phillip. Abraham was the manager of the U. S. Government freight lines which ran from the Agency of White Swan, near Yankton, to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Ludger, Phillip and Benjamin freighted from Yankton, Wheeler, to Deadwood for the gold miners in the Black Hills, when this area was Dakota Territory and an Indian Reservation. Their large heavy Conestaga wagon trains were pulled by slow, ponderous but hardy oxen.
Benjamin Turgeon met pretty young Armine at Rulo, Nebraska and they were wed in 1885. Armine was only fifteen years of age, the youngest of the Landeaux family and Benjamin, eighteen years old, was the youngest of the Turgeon family.
In 1887 Benjamin and Armine Turgeon moved to her allotment on the Whetstone, the S 1/2 of Section 25, later named Turgeon Twp. Their children, Francis and Louise were given their allotments in 1890-1894. Agnes, born in 1887, died of typhoid fever eleven years later. Julia was born in 1896. By the year 1909, Benjamin had purchased the N 1/2 of Section 35, also land in Sections 23, 24, 25, and 26 from discouraged homesteaders who sold our and left the country.
Benjamin and Armine's first home was a log cabin on the east bank of the Whetstone Creek, east of the present home. Francis and Louise were born in this log cabin. When the new home was erected, the log cabin became a bunk house. The Whetstone Creek, on the western side of the cabin, ran north, wound to the west and turned south before straightening its course west. It was in this flat nest that Benjamin built his home and farm buildings. Zachary Trahan from Canada, brother of Artemese Rang Desjarlais, lived with them, as well as other senior men who helped Benjamin with his many projects. They were furnished room and board, clothing and Horse Shoe Tobacco.
Benjamin with the help of these hired hands, built his barns and corrals. The barn was a huge two story building poured with a cement floor one foot in depth with a ladder to ascend the hay mow. With a capacity of 90 to 100 cows it took the men all day to feed the cattle in the winter. They pulled the hay to the barn in bobsleds. Employing his own sawmill, cottonwood logs were sawed into planks for feed bunks, mangers, stalls and corral fences and gates. A cattle shoot and weight scale was built northeast of the barn. A sling carried the load of hay into the mow. Four saddles were hung on the walls. A workshop and bunkhouse was staged in the hay mow after the barn's completion.
Benjamin owned and raised over 1,000 head of cattle and many horses that grazed on the lush grass of the fenceless Whetstone hills and Sully Flats. Cowboys, and later Francis and Louise, herded the stock and special care was exercised during calving time. In the fall the cowboys gathered the cattle from the prairies and river hills for a big round-up at the Turgeon ranch. Noah Williams, Frank Bishop, James and Henry Emery, Russell and Thomas Durfee, Jack Sully, the Hams, George Pete and many other ranchers drove their herds to the Turgeon corrals to be branded, earmarked, castrated and sorted. The ear marks cut out of the ears of the calves were put in individual piles for each rancher to count later. Louise kept the fire hot for the branding irons. Round-up time lasted many days until all was done and the herds moved out again to the ranges. Ed Pete drove the chuck wagon and Louise and her mother baked many large loaves of bread for the hungry cow punchers.
The family had been living in the log cabin, but in 1905-06 a new, big three-story house was erected west of the log cabin and south of the corrals. The house was built of large dimension cottonwood lumber, logs cut and sawed in the sawmill by Benjamin and his men. It was built upon a five foot mortar and rock foundation. The exterior was then sheeted with brick embossed tin, and the windows were shuttered. The third story bedroom was for visiting children. The main floor had two bedrooms, a clothes closet, a large hallway, parlor and dining room. A piano and a "Regina" music box graced the parlor. Louise and Julia occupied one bedroom. The larger bedroom was for company, but was also used for Mass and Communion by the priest of St. Francis Mission, accommodating the Catholics of the valley.
The basement, the main living quarters, consisted of two bedrooms, dining and living area, and kitchen. Ben and Armine slept in one bedroom, Francis and hired man slept in the other room. An open stairway in the middle of the room led to the first floor; under the stairs was a large oak closet. A nine foot cedar post stanchion equipped with jack rested on the basement floor, convenient to shift the weight of the house occasionally. A cement bathroom under the porch was supplied with running water. A heavy oak door in the rear opened into the basement. A Delco plant provided electricity to the house for lights and water. The children kept the wood box filled for the cookstove and wood or coal heaters. During the very cold nights the hired man kept all the stoves burning.
Oak trees from the creek were cut and sawed into board lengths, planed, sanded and fitted for the door, windows, mp board trim and floors by Benjamin. The house was finished on a Sunday, whereupon a carpenter bee was held. It was much enlivened by a keg of beer bought to help celebrate the completion of the house. It was a great house and the family loved their home.
The yard was landscaped with cedars dug from the Whetstone; today reach heights of 100 and 150 feet. Louise dug and planted with a butcher knife a small cedar seedling between the house and the outhouse - it required years to attain 25 feet. The tree still waves in the breeze, but the outhouse long ago was replaced by modern plumbing.
A huge garden was planted in the valley east of the new house. It was cultivated by a horse-drawn cultivator by some hoeing was required. Apple, cherry and plum seedlings were planted southeast of the log cabin, protected by the native trees of the Whetstone. Benjamin owned the first Avery tractor, 1913 model which pulled a five bottom plow, to which was attached a two-section drag to break the prairie sod.
A well drilling outfit was purchased to dig an artesian well in the barnyard lot. It flowed into an oval cement tank surrounded by a cement platform. A water wheel to operate the Delco plant was located in the Whetstone Creek below the artesian overflow. This did not generate sufficient power so a shed was built to house the Delco plant, two water wheel and supply tank. Artesian water was piped to the house for bathing, but a cistern of rainwater near the house was used for drinking, cooking and laundry. The soft water was piped to the kitchen sink hand pump. Benjamin dug 10 - 15 artesian wells in the area, also digging a well for the St. Francis Church and school at Mission, S.D.
Benjamin owned and raced blooded horses. One favorite, "Whiskey Pete", won many silver cups and silver toothpicks as well as crystal ware, centerpieces and condiment sets. One crystal wine glass dated "Whetstone July 24, 1899" was won by Whiskey Pete. Whiskey Pete was a long-legged bay with a white star marking his forehead. He raced in Butte and Omaha, Nebraska and Sioux City, Iowa. Pacer horses were sold to the Omaha Stockyards as "cutting out" horses. These fine horses were pictured on calendars and mailed to cattle buyers and producers.
Benjamin invented and patented a spring tire. The tires rode easy in the hills but the springs would not stay intact. He was also a mechanic and became adept at hot iron welding, new to this area. Employing hot iron welding he invented the first cattle guards or "auto gates" which eliminated the use of gates to enter the ranch. The gate was designed with poles and old artesian rods. A small gate to the side accommodated the riding horses. He fashioned horseshoes in his shop and shod horses for the neighbors. It their watch or clock was not keeping time, he could repair, oil and clean the timepieces.
Roads to the ranch in the winters were maintained by the Turgeons. Using horses and a scoop they cleared the roads to accommodate all vehicles, including his new Franklin auto. He was also a Franklin auto dealer for interested buyers in the area.
A super salesman convinced Benjamin to buy shares in an oil venture in Wichita Falls, Texas. Benjamin became wealthy when "black gold" shot skyward from his wells. He traveled to Texas several times a year to check his investments. On a return trip from Texas, the family stopped at Omaha. Louise purchased a $25 pair of tan, 18-button hightop shoes from the Brandeis Store. The clerks stared in amazement when she paid the shoe clerk with a $100 bill given to her by her father, but of course the change was returned to him.
Friends, relatives or neighbors often fished or seined on the big lake-pond near the farm buildings. Uncle William Emery loved to spiel tall tales to the children especially about the large amount of money he had salted away in a barrel, these tales delighted the children.
Benjamin and Armine had labored long and diligently, the time was near to retire. In 1918 he sold the ranch and 1/2 interest in the cattle to Fred Harris, Benjamin's former hired hand. Later it was transferred to Otto Nightingale. It again changed hands, becoming the property of a Texas cattle company, with foreman Robert Taylor.
The Turgeon home which had seen so much living was demolished. It was pushed into the basement, covered over and planted with grass. A new modern home was erected. The barn was considerably reduced in size. However, some of the original barn interior, stalls, mangers, corrals, scales and artesian well are still in use.
Benjamin and Armine Turgeon retired to Bonesteel, S.D. Benjamin Turgeon died July 12, 1926 and Armine Landeaux Turgeon died March 24, 1940 at Bonesteel. They were the parents of four children: Agnes 1886-1897; Francis (1890) married Nettie Davis, children Dolor, Richard, Ray, Laura, Frances, Loretta, Donald and Jerry; Louise (1893) married Henry Lunn, (dec.), children Helen, Marie, Dorothy and Henrietta; Julia (1896) married Richard Gravel, children Garneta, Rex and Janice.
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The 1920 Federal Census of Pleasant Valley, Gregory County, South Dakota, page 6A, lists him as age 52, born in Canada, mother tongue: French, race: white, emigrated to the U.S. in 1882, naturalized in 1886, father and mother both French Canadian, occupation: automobile salesman.
More About BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TURGEON:
Date born 2: February 1866, Beaumont, Bellechasse County, Quebec, Canada438
Burial: St. Mary's Cemetery, Bonesteel, Gregory County, South Dakota
Census: 1900, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Meyer County, South Dakota, page 19A
Census 2: 1910, Turgeon Precinct, Gregory County, South Dakota, page 16B
Census 3: 1920, Pleasant Valley Township, Gregory County, South Dakota, page 6A
Immigration: 1880, from Canada439
Immigration 2: 1882, from Canada440
Land Patent: January 13, 1910, Gregory County, South Dakota, 160 Acres441
Land Patent 2: January 13, 1910, Gregory County, South Dakota, 160 Acres442
Land Patent 3: January 13, 1910, Gregory County, South Dakota, 160 Acres443
Land Patent 4: January 13, 1910, Gregory County, South Dakota, 160 Acres444
Naturalization: 1886445
Occupation: 1900, Stock Raiser446
Occupation 2: 1910, Farmer447
Occupation 3: 1920, Automobile Salesman448
Residence: 1920, First Avenue North, Bonesteel, Gregory County, South Dakota449
Son of: Cezaire Turgeon and Jeanne Marie Trachy
More About BENJAMIN TURGEON and ARMINE LANGDEAU:
Marriage: 1885, Wheeler, Charles Mix County, South Dakota450,451,452
Children of ARMINE LANGDEAU and BENJAMIN TURGEON are:
i. AGNES3 TURGEON453,454, b. 1886, Turgeon Township, Gregory County, South Dakota455,456; d. Aft. 1910.
More About AGNES TURGEON:
Died 2: 1897, Bonesteel, Gregory County, South Dakota457
Census: 1910, Turgeon Precinct, Gregory County, South Dakota, page 16B