The Common Ancestors

Olive Smith and Clement Trowbridge were the great-grandparents of both the Turner and Trowbridge siblings.  Their daughter Olive Lucinda Trowbridge had a daughter Adeline Martha Mann, who was the mother of the Turner siblings.  Their son James Smith Trowbridge had a son Nelson Seymour Trowbridge who was the father of the Trowbridge siblings. (Both Olive Lucinda and James came to California in 1852 with their families, and both ultimately settled in Jackson.)

 Olive Smith was born in 1784 in Clarendon VT, and Clement Trowbridge was born in 1774 in Pomfret, CT.  They were married June 20, 1810 in Sheldon, VT.  They had five children:

• Frances Honor Trowbridge, b. April 20, 1813, married Henry G. Whipple
• Nelson Clement Trowbridge, b. July 8, 1815, married Evaline Oliver
• James Smith Trowbridge, b. December 4, 1816, married Mary Ann Seymour
• Olive Lucinda Trowbridge, b. October 29, 1818, married Henry Rice Mann (then William McKim)
• Adeline Runnels Trowbridge, b. October 11, 1821, married David Lewis Johns

All the children were born in Vermont (Census records).  Clement was "in business" in Cambridge VT, then in 1832 they moved to Medina NY.  Some time later, when James was a young man, the family moved to Albion, MI.  They were among the early settlers of Albion. (Trowbridge genealogy)

May 9, 1846, a masonic lodge was founded in Albion with Clement Trowbridge as the first "W.M.," whatever that is (Calhoun County Business Directory for 1869-70). 

According the Trowbridge Genealogy:

Mr. Trowbridge  was a man of strong character and courageous spirit.  One of his granddaughters (Mrs. Hugh H. Dobbins) has a carving knife made from the point of a British officer's sword, which he wrested from him and broke over the latter's shoulder during the border troubles with the Canadians.

The 1850 Census shows Olive and Clement at ages 64 and 76 living with daughter Adeline and her husband David Lewis Johns, in New York. David was a farmer, and ten years older than Adeline.

Clement died December 22, 1853, in Albion, MI.  After his death, Olive lived with Adeline and David Lewis Johns in Chicago (1860 census).  David was now a lawyer.  Olive died September 14, 1868, in Chicago.

Their daughter Frances and her husband lived in Sheridan, MI, where he worked as a machinist, and then in Galva, IL.  A possible H.G. Whipple, age 40, appears in the 1852 California Census right next to James Smith Trowbridge's and Olive Lucinda Mann's families.  Did the brother-in-law accompany them to California, but then return east?

Their son Nelson and his wife moved to Georgia.  He was a speculator, and owned 30 slaves.  By 1870 they had moved to New York City.  He was retired and they had domestics.