The Ford, Roelker, and Turle families were united by intermarriage and resided in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. The members of these families include the descendants of Gordon Lester Ford (1823-1891), a prominent businessman and lawyer, and Emily Fowler Ford (1826-93), well-known poet, novelist, and granddaughter of lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843). Gordon and Emily had seven children and their oldest daughter, Kathleen (1856- 1932), married Robert Hobbs Turle (1846-1905), an Englishman who relocated to the United States and became a self-made businessman. They had three daughters and one of them, Millicent (1888-1967), married Alfred Roelker (1875-1953), who's father, Alfred K.F. (1837-1915), came to the United States from Germany in 1852. He was 15 years old at the time, and was taken care of by his uncles, who emigrated to the United States in the 1830s. Alfred K.F. married Catherine Greene Lawton of Newport, Rhode Island and they had Isabella (1870-1890), Anna (1871-1965) and Alfred Jr. (1875-1953). The younger Alfred went to Columbia law school, specialized in real estate law, and eventually settled in Staten Island. He also served in WWI and was a firm believer in compulsory military training. Alfred and Millicent had three daughters, Roberta, Katrina, and Hildegarde.
From the guide to the Ford, Roelker, Turle family papers, 1811-1984, 1850-1960, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
