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Edward Garland Turner was the last son of George E. and Janette Adams Turner, who we learned about last week, and was born on the farm in 1862. His father died when he was ten years old and he took over the farm in 1879 when he was 17. He bred full-blooded merino sheep, which have very fine soft wool, and exhibited them at county fairs.
In 1887, he married Edith Moore, daughter of William and Eliza Moore from Solon Mills. He was 24 and she was 25. Edith’s wedding gown is in the village’s historical collection. The dress is made of jacquard silk/satin with buttons with a 4-leaf clover design. Another jacket and hat are part of the wedding trousseau. The second jacket has a windowpane and polka dot design and is on display along with the hat at the Visitor’s Center at Hatchery Park.
Four years after his marriage Edward bought the homestead and later added eighty acres to the north, bringing the total acreage of the farm to 240. He erected a barn in 1911 and added two silos. He then specialized in dairy farming and kept 25 cows of a thoroughbred Holstein strain, breeding them himself. He was also a member of the Modern Woodman of America. Edith was active in the Methodist church at Solon Mills, the Home Bureau and other clubs.
They had a son who died in infancy and a daughter, Hazel May, who was born in 1894. After a new law was passed in 1915 allowing for the registration of farm names with the county circuit clerk, they registered their farm as the Hazel Ridge Farm, after their daughter. Naming farms became popular at that time. It gave a farm distinction and was an expression of pride. that year almost 50 farms in McHenry County registered their farm name. The newspaper even published a list of names for consideration of anyone thinking of naming and registering their farm. A Hazel Ridge Farm sign stood for many years on the property but recently was taken down as it is in need of repairs.
Edward died at home in 1936 at the age of 74 and is buried in the South Solon Cemetery. Edith lived until age 93. Next week we will learn more about their daughter Hazel.
Story by Laura Frumet
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