Mystery Monday~Did Dan and John Turnage Change Their Surname?

In the 1850 household of Vicy Pervis, age 64 for Chesterfield County can be found two young boys, namely,

• Daniel Turnage, age 12
• John Turnage, age 11

These two boys are not her children or grandchildren; but, Vicy is believed to have been an Aunt or Grand Aunt of these two children.

By 1860, ten years later, these two boys have disappeared from the Census and Vicy Pervis has passed away.

What happened to these two boys?

It is the contention of this blog post Author that two boys took on the Surname Purvis and recreated themselves. Let’s look at these two boys separately. 

 Dan Turnage/Daniel J. Purvis,  

• Dan Turnage born 1838
• Dan Turnage is age 12 in 1850 Census for Chesterfield County thus his birth year is 1838
• Dan Purvis cannot be found in 1850
• Dan Purvis was found in 1860 Census married to Zilpha Ann Sellers.
• Dan Purvis is age 23 in the 1860 Census thus his birth year is 1837
• Dan Turnage cannot be found in 1860 or later.
• Dan Purvis wife is Zilpha Ann Sellers, age 16. Zilpha Ann Sellers is the daughter of Matthew Sellers and Sarah “Sally” Turnage.
• Dan Purvis and his wife are found after 1860

·        Matthew Sellers and Sarah “Sally” Turnage, are living very close to Dan Turnage in 1850 Census. Now they are very Close to Daniel J. Purvis in the 1860 Choctaw County, Alabama census.

John Turnage/John J. Purvis,  

• John Turnage born 1839
• John Turnage is age 11 in 1850 Census for Chesterfield County thus his birth year is 1839
• John J. Purvis cannot be found in 1850 or 1860 Census
• John J. Purvis was found in 1870 Census married to Henrietta Welsh. He was previously married to Roxanne Gibson.
• John J. Purvis is age 31 in the 1870 Census thus his birth year is 1839
• John Turnage cannot be found in 1850/1860 census but is in Census from 1870 till his death in 1892.   

No record of Dan and John Turnage have been found before 1850 and No record of them has been found after 1860.

Records after 1850 had been found for a Daniel J. Purvis and a John J. Purvis both of similar age to the Turnage boys and both living near families they were familiar with in 1850.

While I have no document, in hand, saying that Dan and John Turnage changed their Surname to Purvis I find it very compelling for many reasons.

In 1850, no record can be found for Daniel J. Purvis or John Jackson Purvis.

In 1860 and afterwards no record of Dan Turnage and John Turnage can be found.

Daniel Turnage/Purvis lives near Matthew Sellers while in Chesterfield County and he is again living nearby in Choctaw County, Alabama. This is to be expected since he married Matthew's daughter. 

John Jackson Turnage/Purvis remained in Chesterfield County near families he grew up knowing.

These two families are a real mystery. DNA can solve the mysteries of these two families, and I would encourage their descendants to participate in DNA study to determine whether their ancestors were from the Purvis or the Turnage families of Chesterfield County, South Carolina.