Notes for Walter THURTELL

Thurtell and Related Families Thurtell and Related Families

Notes for Walter THURTELL

The 1850 U.S. Census for Jamestown, Grant County, Wisconsin, page 136, ennumerated September 19, 1850, shows Walter Thurtle, age 4, born in Wisconsin, living with his parents, Edward B. Thurtle and Anna Thurtle.

The 1860 U.S. Census for Jamestown, Grant County, Wisconsin, enumerated July 14, 1860, on page 95 lists Edward B. Thurtle and his family. It shows the Post Office was Fair Play, Wisconsin. Edward B. Thurtle is shown as age 44, a farmer born in England whose real estate is valued at $3500 and personal property is valued at $900. Living with him is Amy Thurtle, age 39, born in Indiana, and eight children, all of whom were born in Wisconsin. Edward is 17 and a farmer. Ann, age 15, Walter, age 13, Mary, age 11, Frank, age 9, and Frederick, age 6, are all shown as in school. The two youngest children are Harriet, age 3, and a not named daughter, age 1.

The 1870 U.S. Census for the Town of Jamestown, Grant County, Wisconsin, enumerated August 6, 1870, showing the Post Office as Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin, lists Edward Thurtle and his family on page 15, lines 9-15. He is shown as Edward Thurtle, age 54, a farmer whose real estate is worth $7000 and personal property is worth $1200. He is shown as born in England, with both parents of foreign birth. His wife is shown as Anna Thurtle, age 49, born in Indiana, whose occupation is keeping house. All five of the children listed show they were born in Wisconsin. Frank, 18, works on the farm. Fred, whose age is shown as 13, also works on the farm and attended school in the past year. Harriet E. Thurtle, age 13, and Grace Thurtle, age 11, are shown as at home and attending school in the past year. Anna B. Thurtle, age 9, is also shown as attending school.

On the same page of the 1870 census on line 16 is Walter Thurtle, age 25, born in Wisconsin, who works on the farm. Also on the same page on lines 17-18 are Ann Folts, age 56, born in Wisconsin, whose occupation is keeping house, and Edward R. Folts, age 1, born in Wisconsin. On lines 19-21 are Ransom Folts, age 27, born in New York, who works on a farm; Ann Folts, age 25, born in Wisconsin, whose occupation is keeping house; and Ransom Foltz, age 2/12, who was born in March 1870 in Wisconsin.

The marriage of Walter Thurtell and Emma Bechtel is recorded in Book 4, Page 414, Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa. It shows that "On application of said Thurtell and satisfactory proof license issued this 22nd day of July A.D. 1880" for Walter Thurtell - 29, and Emma Bechtel - 20. "The marriage of the above named parties was duly solemnized by the Rev. Wm. S. Balch at Dubuque, Iowa," July 22, 1880. No records were kept in Dubuque, Iowa, if either member of a couple being married had been married before. Divorce records for 1880 and earlier exist in both Dubuque County, Iowa, and in Pulaski County, Illinois, but are in such poor order that a researcher would need to go to each county to physically search for such records, according to information received from each of these counties in November 1999.

The entry about Ransom B. Folts in a 1901 Grant County, Wisconsin, biographical record shows his wife's brother, Walter Thurtell, was a resident of Honolulu.

Information received from Charlotte Mackie in 1998, mostly from Cynthia Kerman, shows Walter Thurtell was born March 31, 1847, in Wisconsin, and that he married Emma Bechtel on July 22, 1880. He was a school teacher and later the editor of the Dubuque, Iowa, newspaper. He and his wife apparently separated some time prior to 1900, since she is listed as the head of the household in the 1900 census.

He is listed in the 1900 U.S. Census for Hawaii twice. One listing shows him as Walter Thurtell in Honolulu District, Island of Oahu on Miller Street (Volume 10, ED 10, Sheet 6, Line 10), enumerated June 4, 1900. This listing shows him as Caucasian, born in March 1847 in Wisconsin and age 53. He is listed with five lodgers, and the field of the census showing whether he owned or rented his home was left blank. This listing shows he has been married 20 years and that his father was born in England and his mother in North Carolina. It shows he immigrated to the Hawaiian Islands in 1899 and has been living in the Hawaiian Islands for 1 1/3 years. His occupation is shown as a journalist, and the census shows there were 0 months in the prior year that he was not employed. He is able to read, write, and speak English but cannot speak Hawaiian. There is another listing in Honolulu District, Island of Oahu, enumerated on June 6, 1900 (Volume 9, ED 6, Sheet 15, Line 49) showing him as Walter Thurtell, age 53 and born in March 1837 in Wisconsin, a Caucasian living alone in a home he owned mortgage free on Beach Road in Honolulu District, Island of Oahu, Hawaii. In this listing he is shown as a widower who immigrated to the Hawaiian Islands in 1898, 1 1/2 years earlier, and his father is shown as born in England and his mother in North Carolina. He is shown as a journalist who had two months when he was not employed, and he can speak, read, and write English but not Hawaiian. These two listings undoubtedly refer to the same person, since Walter Thurtell was 53 in June 1900, and therefore the correct date of birth should be March 1847.

Walter Thurtell is listed in the index for the 1910 U.S. Census as living in Honolulu County, Hawaii, on Page 112, Honolulu Volume 10, ID number H150. He is shown as single, age 63, living in Honolulu and owning his home mortgage free in the 1910 Hawaii census (Honolulu County, Island Oahu, District Honolulu, Sheet 14B, ED 39, page 112). His father is shown as born in England and his mother in North Carolina. Living with him is a boarder, James W. White, a male who could be 17, 27, or 47, and was born in Hawaii and whose mother was born in California and father in the United States. In the 1920 U.S. Census Walter Thurtell is living in his home which he owns mortgage free at 80 Laimi Road, Honolulu, and shown as age 72, born in Wisconsin, with his father born in England and his mother in North Carolina. His occupation is shown as editor, and he is shown as a widower living alone (Honolulu County, Island Oahu, City of Honolulu, Sheet 24, Line 21, Volume 12, ED 43).

Walter Thurtell is listed in the Hawaii directories for 1916 - 1919. The 1916 Directory shows "Thurtell Walter, journalist, r Dow, Nuuanu valley." No other Thurtell is listed in the 1916 Directory for Hawaii. The 1917 Directory shows "Thrutell Walter, journalist, rr 2766 Dow nr Laimi rd, Oahu. Thrutell Edward O, electr L P Co, Lihue, Kauai." The 1918 Directory shows "Thurtell Walter, journalist, r 80 Laimi rd, Oahu. Thurtell, Edward O, electr L P Co, Lihue, Kauai." The listing in the 1919 Directory reads "Thurtell Walter, proofreader, Star Bulletin, r 80 Laimi rd, Oahu. Thurtell, Edward O, electr L P Co, Lihue, Kauai."

The death certificate for Walter Thurtell shows he died at his home at 80 Laimi Road, Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 17, 1921, at age 74 years, 8 months, 16 days, and that he was born in 1847, the son of Edward B. Thurtell. His father's place of birth is shown as Germany, and his mother's name and birth place are shown as unknown. It shows he had lived in Honolulu for 25 years and that he was a widower. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, and he was cremated in Oahu. The informant was Joseph Joaquin, relationship not shown and address illegible. His wife's name is also shown as unknown.

| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |
Footer Additions and corrections are always appreciated!