California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 CYRUS GORDON TURNER.� The tenant on the large stock farm in Long Valley precinct, Lake county, known as the Spring Branch farm since October, 1909, Mr. Turner is engaged in raising general crops and to some extent in stock growing. He is a man known for his straightforward disposi- tion and reliable character, and his industry and evident public spirit have made him a most desirable citizen of the section where he resides. Practically all of his life has been spent in Lake county, for he was only a child of six years when his parents settled in the Loconomi valley, near Middletown, where he was reared. Mr. Turner's father, John Turner, was a native of Virginia, and served during the Civil war as a soldier in the Confederate army. He was married in Missouri to Ruth Cummings, a native of that state, and they came with their family to California in the year 1870, the parents passing the remainder of their lives in Lake county. Until he retired, John Turner was a farmer and stockman. His death occurred near Lower Lake in 1908, when he was seventy-five years old, many years after that of his wife. They had a family of seven children : William, who died in Jerusalem valley, Lake county, when thirty-one years old, was married and had two children ; Cyrus G. is mentioned later ; Samuel conducts a pool hall in Lower Lake ; Josie was the wife of Charles Hopper and died leaving two children ; John died at nineteen ; Emma married George Copsey and died leaving two children ; Sallie is the wife of John Wright, of Santa Rosa, and has a family of six children. Cyrus G. Turner was born August 8, 1863, in Clay county, ^Missouri, and was six years old at the time the family left that state for California. His mother died when he was but eleven years old, and he began to work out as a farm hand when a boy of twelve. Nevertheless, he managed to acquire a good education, attending school winters and doing chores to pay his way meantime. His first employer was "Tom" Parker, for whom he continued to work off and on for several years, perhaps remaining with him three years in all. Farming has always been his occupation, and he has been renting land for a number of years, having been in Little High valley for several years before he came to the Spring Branch farm, usually known as the Quigley farm, in October, 1909. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Brown, of Richmond, Cal., and comprises seven hundred acres of good land, upon which he raises mixed crops, meeting with gratifying success in his operations. His stock includes fourteen head of cattle, twenty-two hogs and six horses, and he is also engaged in raising chickens and turkeys. The present condition of the place betokens the thrifty care which Mr. Turner gives to it, and his work and upright life have won him the highest respect of his neighbors in the precinct. On November 1, 1903, Mr. Turner married Miss Nora Estella Cunning- ham, of Lower Lake, who belongs to pioneer families of this section in both paternal and maternal lines, being a daughter of William H. and Nancy Jane (Howard) Cunningham and granddaughter of James Howard, who estab- lished Howard Springs Resort. Mr. Cunningham was well known as a black- smith at Lower Lake for years, and served ably as assessor of Lake county. He died recently, and his wife is also deceased. They had two children, Nora Estella and Bertie Leone, the latter now the wife of Thomas A. Wing, a carpenter, who lives in Merced county, this state. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Turner have two children. Ruth E. and Bertie E. Mrs. Turner is an excellent cook and housekeeper, and like her husband has many good personal qualities which have won her the regard and esteem of her neighbors. On political questions he is a Democrat, but he has not been active in either party affairs or public matters.