We have very little information about Edgar F. Turgeon, although we know that he had lived in Plankinton and Gregory County.  While the U.S. Census shows Edgar living in California in 1930, a biography of his son states that he lived part of his childhood was spent on a farm in the Midwest.  It is possible that he returned to South Dakota for some brief period of time.

The reason we are interested in this family is because his son, Edgar Lynn Turgeon, was considered to be among the top economists of the 20th century.  He is probably dad's most "famous" cousin.

Below are genealogical/historical information regarding this family.  Here is what we know:  Edgar Turgeon, Sr. began with the Case & Lathrop Bank as a cashier (Gregory County) and eventually was promoted to Cashier.  Edgar Sr., Mary Smith's brother, served in the Air Corp during World War I.  This family eventually moved to California and Edgar and his wife are buried in San Bruno military cemetery.  Finally, we can link this family with our own through the family's genealogical records, as noted in the genealogical listing above.

CLICK TO ENLARGE POSTCARD VIEW

Post Card from Ed Turgeon, while stationed in France, sent to the William C. Smith family in Stickney (Soldiers Mail WW1).

Lynn Fellows

Years of Service

Dad talked about Lynn Fellows quite often, and we knew that they were very close friends of the "Stickney" family.  What makes this connection interesting for Tim and myself is that indirectly Lynn Fellows was "related" to our own family. 

Lynn's sister, Margaret, married Edgar F. Turgeon, Mary (Turgeon) Smith's brother.  Prior to World War I, Edgar worked as a car salesman in Plankinton, South Dakota.  After the war he returned to South Dakota, specifically Gregory County, and began a career in banking.  He also married Margaret after returning from the war.

It also explains how Edgar Lynn Turgeon received his middle name.  Throughout his illustrious career, he only went by the name of Lynn.  The next set of records are obituaries and reflections of his work.

EDGAR LYNN TURGEON was born on August 26, 1920 in Mitchell, South Dakota. (2) In an unpublished memoir (Turgeon 1990), he claimed that growing up during the Great Depression on a small farm in the Midwest influenced his decision to study economics. Since good jobs were scarce for young men in the 1930s, he went to the University of California at Berkeley where he majored in economics before serving as a U.S. Navy supply officer in the Pacific during World War II. During his service he became aware of the waste and misery of war, and made a commitment "to do something, which might contribute to preventing another war ... assuming I survived" (Turgeon 1990:2-3). He anticipated that the next major conflict after World War II might be with the Soviet Union, and he began to study the Russian language. At the end of the war, with the aid of the GI. Bill, Turgeon decided to either pursue a law degree or a Ph.D. in economics. Not quite sure in which direction to go, he decided to visit the famous Keynesian economist Alvin Hansen at Harvard University. Turgeon was impressed with Hansen's prewar writings and felt he could talk frankly with him since he was a fellow South Dakotan (Turgeon 1990:3). After finding Hansen in the Harvard library wearing green eyeshades, Turgeon spoke with him for about a half-hour and was convinced to stay with economics and pursue a graduate degree. He went back to Berkeley to obtain a master's degree in economics, writing a thesis on "The Economic Effect of World War II on the U.S. Electronics Industry," and continued his study of the Russian language.

It was a privilege for me to have been a friend of Lynn Turgeons.  He was responsible for my meeting my wife, Marina, who was a researcher at the Instititute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) in Moscow in the early 1880s.  She had been his translator when he served on his Fulbright in Moscow (in 1976, not 1975 as his obituary states) for his lectures at Moscow State University...he gave her away at our wedding and we shall both miss him very much.

Over the more recent years Lynn participated in several panels at professional meetings on transitional economy issues, often ones that neither Marina or I would chair or organize...He had had prostate cancer for several years that he knew was incurable and had warned me that he might not make the meetings, which I said I understood.   However, during the middle of last year he seemed to be doing better and I was hopeful that he would participating as he lived in Hempstead, New York, not far from the meeting site in New York City.  It was only when he pulled out in early December that I realized that the end was near.  He had fallen and his cancer had relapsed and he had gone to stay with his daughter who is a physician in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  It was clear that he was not going to be going anywhere else again while alive, although he did continue to be active on the PKT list into January.

Lynn always enjoyed challenging people with ideas that went against the grain, and I sometimes had trouble figuring out to what extent he actually believed some of the things he was putting forward (I certainly did not agree with all of them). Louis Proyect had commented on how used to appear to argue that fascisim was good for the working class, a position that I do not think he really held.  However, he certainly did think Hitler was a practitioner of a form of Keynesianism, perhaps the first "military Keynesian" and he always enjoyed confounding people with his apparently contradictory views on military spending.

;;;he had originally been inspired to study Russian back in World War II out of a desire for world peace and a feeling that the US and USSR should remain allied and be friends.  In the early 50s he was apparently the only person at the Rand Corporation not to have a security clearance.  In later years he would point out some of the virtues of the Stalinist system even as he criticized its irrationality and oppressiveness.  His "Economics of Discrimination" made the point that Gypsies and women were more equal and less discriminated against in Easter and Central Europe during the Stalinist period than at any other, an uncomfortable fact for many of us...he argued that how women are treated is perhaps the real bottom line measure of a society.

I think others have said much that is useful, accurate, and wise concerning the life and career of Lynn Turgon.  He was indeed someone who traveled widely and made friends wherever he went.  I was constantly amazed at the breadth of his contacts and acquaintances, many of whom he kep in contact with and sent his engaging and insightful travelogues to.  His curiousity about current developments in the world was unabated and I remember him even in his last illness questioning Marina about farmers market prices in Moscow...he was truly a citizen of theworld and will be sorely missed by many of us.

Barkley Rosser

While driving home from Ann Arbor recently, I stopped over in Ithaca to investigate the "Ithaca Hour,"about which there had been some information on my modem.  I had just completed a little account of Franklin Roosevelt's decision to reflate the United States economy in the fall of 1933 by raising the buying price of gold from $20.67 to $35 per ounce. (available on request by snail-mail) FDR had reject ed the advice of the economics establishment and relied instead on George "Rubber dollar" Warren, an obscure agricultural economist at Cornell, who with Frank Pearson, had drawn an historical correlation between the price of gold and the general price level.

        I wondered if there was any connection between the experience of Warren coming out of Ithaca and the more recent experience with what some traditional economists would call "funny money."  My first clue in discovering and talking with Paul Glover, who is the guru of the local currency movement, was outside the HOURs bank located in the Autumn Leaves bookstore, where a local described Glover as the man whno gets around on his bicycle. There was a sign in the bookstore window indicating that the store would change Ithaca Hours into five denominations, with an HOUR worth $10, the going rate for an hour of labor in various services, such as carpentry, plumbing, gardening and baby-sitting.

        The experiment with local money has been going on for 3 and one-half years and Glover is already making sure that Ithaca's paper currency can't be counterfeited.  The next day I picked up a copy of the June-July issue of Ithaca Money, outside the Alternative Federal Credit Union. This 12-page Newspaper lists roughly 1200 local services which can be purchased with "hours." Certain things such as rent can be partially paid for in the local currency.  Professionals such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, electricians, and massage therapists are advertising for customers and will accept this local currency.  I asked Glover whether there were any doctors who would accept "hours," but he said that their one doctor had retired.  I noticed that almost a dozen lawyers were advertising their services.

        I also asked Glover whether he was familiar with the earlier experience with "rubber dollar" Warren, but he was completedly unaware of his predecessor.  He also expressed worry for fear that too great a supply of HOURS would contribute to inflation in Ithaca. Apparently he has been suitably brainwashed by monetarist thinking.  He claims that local money is real money, backed by real people, real time and skills and that United States dollars are" funny money" no longer backed by gold or silver and "less than nothing - 4.2 trillion dollars in national debt."

        My own interpretation of this experience is that it makes sense in any community that is plagued by excess capacity and disguised unemployment.  If there is excess capacity in the local community, this addition to the money supply will put local resources to work, raise total income and tax revenue (since such income is taxable). If your community seems to fit this description, I would recommend sending away for a starter kit selling for 2.5 HOURS or $25.  Write to Ithaca Money, Box 6578, Ithaca, New York 14851.  Glover claims to have sent over 300 kits to communities in 45 states so far.

        Since returning home, I wa watching a C-Span program on the 21st century economy, where Alvin Toffler was asked whether the Federal  Reserve might represent second wave thinking similar to that found in our mass production industries. He seemed to be givingthe green light for localities to take money creation into their own hands in his Third Wave. Can his friend, Newt, be far behind? 

Lynn