TURNER CLAN

August Turner, born Russia 1865, married, 6 children: Clara (Mrs. Bernard DeKoven), Kate, Oscar, Bella (Mrs. Eli Daiches), Minnie (Mrs. Emmanuel Dressner), Jack. Came to Chicago 1885 and began work in a picture frame factory at a very small salary; started business on his own account in June 1886; now president Turner Manufacturing Company, the largest picture frame manufacturing company in the United States. Organizer of the Hebrew Literary Association. Home: 1318 Independence Boulevard. Office, 931 West 14th Place. came to this country from Russia before 1900 and left his wife only known as "baba alta" who was the mother of CLARA, KATIE and OSCAR.  Baba alta was a cousin of Bernard DeKoven.

Gus Turner was originally August L. Tarkovsky and he immigrated from Russia as a teenager in 1886. Within a year he was in business in Chicago with Louis Salganick as a manufacturer of picture frames, and the firm was known as Tarkovsky & Company. Around 1887/1888 Gus married Fannie Meisler, who had immigrated from Russia in 1884, two years before Gus came. The firm was later known as the Globe Molding Works and, by 1896, as the Great Northern Molding Company, with headquarters at 14th and Sangamon. (The president was Samuel Franklin, who later started his own company.) By 1896 Tarkovsky had changed his name to Turner. The company prospered, opened a New York office across from City Hall Park, and eventually became the largest manufacturer of picture frames in the United States. Gus's father-in-law was Falek Meisler, also from Russia. Actually, he was the very first to come to the U.S., in 1882. He was allegedly born in March 1846. Gus and Fannie had three children, and the 1900 Census listed them as:

  • Bella born June 1890
  • Minnie born March 1894
  • Jacob born January 1896

and all born in "Illinois" which probably means Chicago. They were then living on Roosevelt Road (then called 12th Street) near Michigan Avenue, which was a fairly posh neighborhood.\Gus is listed there as born in September 1869, and his wife, Fannie, as August 1868. These dates are probably pretty accurate, because you almost never find a wife admitting that she is older than her husband to a census taker.

More about Turner Manufacturing Co. (thanks to Stephen McGee):

  • TMC was an important institution in art history
  • There is evidence the the company was active at least as late as 1975
  • In 1965, Francis DeKoven was listed as the Chairman of the Board, and Jonathan Turner was the Personnel Manager
 
CHILDREN
Katie Turner
m.     Newton
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Jerome
        Ruth
            GREAT GRANDCHILDREN (children of Jerome)
                Lynette
                Laura  
            GREAT GRANDCHILDREN (children of Ruth)
                two daughters (San Diego)
Oscar
m.  Sadie
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Edythe Wolf (St. Louis)
        Jay
        (Oscar had two sons who were lawyers.  One was named Maurice and married to Gertrude.  
        They moved northwest to Seattle.)

Clara
m.  Bernard DeKoven
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Maurice DeKoven
        Francis DeKoven
        Seymour DeKoven
        Edward DeKoven
        Roger DeKoven
        Ralph DeKoven
        Diana Singer

Belle
m. Eli Daiches (father was chief rabbi of Scotland)

Mona
m. Manny Dresner
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Buddy Dresner (lives in Paris)
        Phyllis(remarried to William Schwartz (famous artist)

Jack m. Nettie Stern
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Jonathan (died of cancer)
        Judith (married a count (Danish) lives in Stockholm)

Justine
m.
    GRANDCHILDREN
        Hillary
        Jeremy
            GREAT GRANDCHILDREN
                Jonathan and Joyce hadPeter (live in L.A.)
                David (live in L.A.)
                Carl (committed suicide)
                Susan (live in L.A.)

Other info that Annabel gave to me if you are interested:

Bernard put Ike and Jake through pharmacy school.  Sam had a grocery store and one of his children, Herman, his only son, became a multi-millionaire.  He is the father of Mona and Sidra.  Sam had six daughters as well.

Yetta married Jack Carl and had two sons.

Uncle Maurice went to University of Chicago; went to Michigan Law School, was in Law Review and got his Masters from Harvard.

Our cousin Lois Ritholtz can be reached at 847-251-9297 and lives at 131 Milbrook Lane, Wilmette 60091.  Aunt Annabel (married to Uncle Maurice) and mother of Marianne can be reached at 773-373-7198.  Marianne lives at 485A First Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215

Joyce Turner Hikevitch wife of Dr. Aaron, psychoanalyst, 5830 Stony Island Avenue, 60637. Widow of Jonathan, mother of Peter, two children, David who has one child and Susan Brown three children, Carl deceased. 

Anna Olshansky had two children Pearl and Sanford.  Pearl had a daughter who married and lives in Detroit.

  Katie Feldman had two children: Eddie, deceased; Pearl Lieberman had two sons

  Sam had five daughters and one son - Herman who married Janet

  Sidra married to Yaron Israhi.  Two daughters.

Mona married to Michael Fishbane has two sons. He teaches at UofC

There were two Turner cousins named Tax and Taxay, one was Dr. Sol Tax, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago.  He had two daughters, Marianna and Susan and one lives in Spain.  Their names might be Turner or Tax.