J. Clifford Turpin (1886-1966)
To help celebrate Purdue University’s 150th anniversary in 2019, the Purdue University Retirees Association (PURA) recruited some of its members to portray historic characters from Purdue’s past.
The reenactors researched their characters, developed costumes and personas, then appeared at a number of public events sharing the stories of these important Purdue figures with the public.
J. Clifford Turpin pictured here, portrayed by Tom Turpin (no relation).
*****
Clifford Turpin was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1886. Dayton was at the time bustling with innovative industrial development and his father James Turpin was a wealthy businessman who owned an iron works company. It was from this enterprise that in 1904 J. Clifford’s father spun out the “New Era Gas Engine Company.” This fledgling company entered the developing internal combustion engine market and was the primary reason that J. Clifford ended up at Purdue University. His father wanted him to learn more about gasoline engines and Purdue seemed to be the place to do that. He became a Boilermaker in the fall of 1904.
J. Clifford Turpin was known as “Turp” at Purdue, where he majored in mechanical engineering and developed a reputation for his expertise in gasoline engines. According to the Purdue Debris yearbook, Turpin was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the Mechanical Engineering Club, and the track team. He also belonged to a student organization called the Harlequin Club that sponsored theatrical productions at Purdue. Turpin’s interest in music and theater probably began with his grandfather, who for many years was a music teacher and ran a music store in Dayton. In 1907, when Turpin was treasurer of the Harlequin Club, the group presented “The President of Oolong” a Chinese transvestite musical comedy developed and first performed at Cornell University. George Ade attended the show in Lafayette’s Grand Opera House/Dryfus Theater and was inspired to write a new opera for the club to use. That work was called “The Fair Co-Ed,” a musical adaptation of his three-act play “The College Widow.” The Harlequin Club presented that musical in 1908.
Following graduation from Purdue with a B. S. in Mechanical Engineering, Turpin returned to Dayton in 1908 and joined “New Era Auto-Cycle” a second spin-off of his father’s iron works company. This start up was producing engine-powered bicycles for a rapidly developing motorcycle market and J. Clifford became the lead salesman. Motorcycle Illustrated magazine reported in 1909 that Turpin represented the company at the Boston Motorcycle Show and “knew the New Era from handlebar to rear tire.”
Turpin had grown up near Orville and Wilbur Wright’s print and bicycle shop in Dayton and he and his father had helped the Wrights develop engines for their airplanes. After Turpin returned to Dayton from Purdue he assisted the Wrights with engine problems. Orville and Wilbur formed the Wright Company in 1909 to commercially develop airplanes and J. Clifford was invited to join the company, which he did. He was hired to help with engines but soon learned to fly in the Wright Flying School and became the first Purdue graduate to acquire a pilot’s license.
After obtaining his pilot’s license Turpin began training others to fly at the Wright Flying School. At this time the U.S. military had taken an interest in airplanes and some military personnel were being trained to fly. One of Turpin’s students was a West Point Army man named Hap Arnold who later became a 5-star general in both the U.S. Army Air Corps and the U.S. Air Force. While in pilot training at the Wright Flying School, Hap Arnold got something in his eye during a solo flight. His eye remained irritated and it was later determined that an insect wing was the cause of the problem. After that, students at the Wright Flying School wore goggles to protect their eyes during those open-air flights.
Hap Arnold and J. Clifford Turpin were the same age and after 38 years of not being in contact, Arnold sent Turpin a letter. The letter suggested that maybe they should get together and do some “hanger talk” about flying. Turpin responded to Arnold’s letter but the proposed opportunity to reminisce never happened. Arnold had a second letter typed to send to Turpin but it arrived unsigned with a handwritten note from Arnold’s secretary that Hap had died before he was able to sign it.
In 1910 the Wright Company organized “The Wright Exhibition Team” to perform at air shows. Nine individuals made up the initial team that was managed by balloonist Roy Knabenshue. Turpin was listed as pilot and engineer for the team. The team’s first performance was at an air show in June 1910 at the new Indianapolis Speedway. Turpin’s first flight in a show was at the Missouri State Fair later that summer.
At that time people were anxious to see these flying machines and Air Shows became popular events with thousands of people in attendance. The Wright Exhibition Team pilots were the rock stars of their time. The Dayton Herald newspaper warned “Be Careful Girls in Flirting With the Wright Men.” By 1911 Turpin and his fellow pilot and best friend Phillip Parmelee were the stars of the team and made headlines like: “Girls Try to Hug Birdmen After Death Defying Flights.”
The Wright Brothers were never enthusiastic about the air shows but supported participation for a couple of years. The Wright Company discontinued the exhibition team in 1912. Turpin and Parmelee rented two airplanes from the Wrights and continued barnstorming. Their first efforts in southern California were successful and these birdmen began taking passengers for rides on their aircraft, and even flew a silent film star in a movie scene.
The team then headed up the West Coast for more exhibitions in the state of Washington and trouble began. While flying his biplane in Seattle Stadium, a photographer got in Turpin’s path along the track in front of the grandstand. Turpin swerved to miss the photographer and crashed into the bleachers killing two people. Turpin was seriously injured but survived. A short time later on June 1, 1912, his flying partner Phil Parmelee crashed during an exhibition in Yakima and was killed. At 26 years of age J. Clifford Turpin never flew again.
Before he ended his flying career Turpin had asked a Broadway actress named Isabel Richards to marry him. She performed in 10 plays on Broadway and in 1911 was in a play called “Excuse Me.” Exactly when or how they met is unclear but Turpin proposed marriage by sending her a postcard dated April 19, 1912, with a note on the back: “Birds of a feather flock together. Why not join the family?” Miss Richards said yes! It is not clear when Isabel married J. Clifford, but after the proposal postcard she performed in two more Broadway Plays, the last of which closed in March 1916.
After Turpin walked away from aviation he sold cars in New York for a year or so and then moved to Boston and started a recycled cotton business that was a financial success. In the 1920’s Clifford and Isabel adopted a daughter. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 resulted in Turpin going broke and that calamity turned the Turpins from a wealthy to a very poor family. In 1945 Isabel committed suicide. J. Clifford Turpin then moved in with his adopted daughter and her family who lived in rural New England, and dropped completely out of society. Turpin died in 1966 and is buried at Barnstable, Massachusetts. The headstone on his grave has an image of a biplane - a Wright Flyer – a fitting final tribute to a man who was once called “King of the Air” for his airshow performances.
Return to PURA Historical Character Project Page