Raleigh Thurman, AKA Thomas R. Webb

Raleigh THURMAN enlisted for the U.S. Army during World War I. He was on a troop train passing through St. Louis, Missouri, when he and another soldier decided the Army was not for them, so they decided to leave. The soldiers were told that they could exit the train for 15 minutes to stretch their legs. Well, Raleigh and the other soldier not only exited the train, but they exited the city of St. Louis. They deserted, in other words. A little while later, Raleigh went to Mississippi and incurred the wrath and anger of the local mobsters when he ran up a sizable gambling debt which he could not pay. He fled Mississippi and went to his sister’s farm in Missouri either for refuge or to borrow some money for traveling expenses. The farm was probably located in the “boot heel” or southeast corner of Missouri, either Pemiscot County or New Madred County. His sister was Lucy THURMAN. When he arrived, everyone was out in the fields working. He entered the house. He knew where his sister hid her money in a trunk. He removed $100 and fled to Texas. He discovered that the mobsters were also hunting him in Texas, so he went on to far west Texas, to El Paso. To escape the mobsters, he entered an Army recruiting office to reenlist. When they asked him his name, he all at once thought of the old saying, "What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive." So he told them that he was Thomas Raleigh WEBB.

He served his time in the Army, received an honorably discharge and went out to California. He worked for a local feed store in Fresno and did quite well, eventually buying a large turkey ranch close by. He married and his wife’s name was Lela M. WEBB. Lela WEBB had a daughter by a previous marriage whose name was Dolly. It is unknown if she took the name WEBB as her last name. Uncle Raleigh had married Lela in El Paso, and Lela is from El Paso, so he might have spent some of his army service in the environs of El Paso. In 1946 he reestablished contact with his Thurman relatives. The first thing he did was pay his sister $500 to make up for the $100 he “borrowed.” One time in advanced age, his sister Lucy was asked where she wanted to be buried. She exclaimed that she wanted to be buried close to her brother, Raleigh. Today Lucy Minerva Anne THURMAN, husband Thomas Rogers SMITH and Thomas R. WEBB are all three buried in the Belmont Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Fresno, Fresno County, California. He is listed in the California Death Index as “Thomas Raliegh WEBB”. The middle name is unusual in that the spelling is different from the usual spelling of "Raleigh".

Note from editor, Don Smith:
Here is an interesting email from Sarah Ruth about Raleigh - sent to Don Smith on 02/05/2004: It was in reply to an earlier email sent to Sarah Ruth Smith/Swiecki with all the data which I had on Uncle Raleigh, asking Sarah Ruth to check it for accuracy.

Email from Sarah Ruth to Don Smith written on 02/05/2004:
Hello Again, It all looks pretty good to me. ..at the part where he joined the Army as Thomas R. Webb, as I remember the story..... He had just arrived in El Paso, by freight train, hungry an looking over his shoulders fearing to come face to face with those whom he was fleeing. As he approached the Post Office...... He saw this huge poster," UNCLE SAM WANT'S YOU"! Of course he knew Uncle Sam was looking for him, as he was AWOL, so ....he decided he would turn himself in and be protected from the "Mob" (?) There was some what of a line formed and as he slowly approached the Recruiting Officer he began thinking of the consequences of his err…,well that sent him into a mental quarry and before he realized the line had moved along..... and he was looking face to face with a Officer of "The US Army " who barked out loudly..... LAST NAME FIRST, (This is where the old saying popped into his head) "Web" he said.... now thinking of the note he had left behind at Tom & Lucy's giving that PO as a mailing address (General Delivery) and when the Recruiter said," FIRST NAME LAST", he replied,Tom..er..ah Thomas R. Sir and there he became Pvt. Thomas R. Webb forever more. He met and married Leatha or Leala there in El Paso. When they moved to Fresno..... He worked for J. B. Hill & Sons, later known as Hill Brothers Checkerboard Feed Co. He had bought a ranch in Coarsegold (about 20 miles from here), California, and had a family living there and running the (turkey) ranch for him. He would often times come up on weekends & stay with the ranch family. There was a tavern in town by the name," The Golden Nugget", Lilly Light owner; Lilly often let the "Boys" do a little gambling in the back room. That is where he was the night he died. Some months before he had given up the Spirits (drinking) but still hung out with the boys in the backroom. When he was driving up the lane to the ranch, the caretakers saw the head lights and the car was barely moving and when it rolled to a stop... the ranch hand went out and covered him with a blanket, thinking he had fallen off the wagon. The next morning the lady of the house got up and made a big breakfast with biscuits and all the trimmings and sent the husband out to wake up Mr. Webb, finding him quite dead and not a drop to drink!! Some years later (1965) my husband and I moved to Oakhurst some 7 miles from his ranch. My parents were still living in Hemet and the first time they visited us is when Mama told me they had come through a town where Uncle Raleigh own a ranch. Later I met Lilly Light and she is the one who told me about the night he died.

So...some of this story is "first hand". If you know the date of his death ...you may be able to go to www.fresnobee.com , if he died after 1957 try ... www.sierrastar.com, click on archives you may find something. There were no newspaper here until 1957 but the Fresno Bee has been around owned & by a McClatchy Company. He was well known in the Valley and I would be surprised if there were not a "write up on his passing away". ( check the Obits)

I am getting closer to the discharge papers! I found a letter from Raleigh to Mom, and one to his father, who lived with my parents at the time. Mom's letter was not dated, however Grandpa’s was dated 10/23/1917. They are pretty degraded but... I will send you a copy of each. I also found a little note book belonging to J.W. Thurman (Editor's Note: James Willis Thurman), signed in his hand. Looks like a Tom McCool owed him $315.75, Huburt Ellis (One of the twinss, Adell's husband) also owed a few dollars, as well to a Jes Jackson, and somebody the named "Terbeville"; looks like old J.W. was somewhat of a "loan shark". I also have his ear muffs and spectacles. What do you think about my find? I have more boxes to dig thru.... who knows what we will find. Well, it is the time of the year I won't mind looking for it as we got our first spring snow Monday night. I was still digging out today! About 6 inches of fluffy white. Our snow season has just begun and will last thru March and part of April. I do not get out and drive when it snows any more. So I will gather as much info as I can while the weather is bad (Good to look at!).

So... Until another time I send our love and prayers to a "new found Cousin". Keep us in yours, Hug's, Sally

Our first lesson about love are learned in our mother's arms.

Email from Sarah Ruth to Don Smith written on 08/11/2004:
January 20, 1895 may have been Thomas R. Webb's date of birth and Missouri his birth place, not Raleigh Thurman. He died in Coarsgold, Madera County, California. His home was in Fresno (city of). He worked for, JB Hill Feed Company which later became known as the Hill Brothers Feed Company. He owned a Turkey Ranch in the foothills about 40 miles from his home. The ranch was run by a foreman and his family. Raleigh would go up on weekends, and he had his own sleeping quarters there. He also had been a heavy drinker. At the time of his death he had been clean & sober for a year or more. He still went to the Golden Nugget, a saloon where there was usually a Poker Game on going in the back. The owner’s name was Lilly Light. I met her when we moved to the Mountains in 1965. She shared with me the night he died. He had spent the evening playing poker with her husband and good the "old boys". He seemed to be okay and had not been drinking. He stayed ‘til 2:00 am. His ranch was a few miles away. He never made it inside the Ranch House. The foreman's wife saw his car lights and the car was traveling very slow and rolled to a stop in the yard. The lady awoke her husband told him , "Mr Webb fell off the wagon". He took a blanket out & covered him... not knowing he was dead or maybe dying!! The next day the foreman went out to wake him for breakfast and found he had been dead for several hours. I also was able to speak to one of the Hill Brothers. He said Tom Webb was a salesman beyond comparison. He was well respected and was with that Company for 25 years.