Turtle soup
Glock19--The "classical" turtle soup was made with marine turtles, which are endangered today, and protected. I don't know much about it, except that it was supposed to be so glutinous as to stick the diner's lips together.
Along the US Eastern Seaboard, there is a group of freshwater turtles called "terrapins," which have traditionally been made into a soup, again, of which I know very little. I seem to recall reading that terrapins also are not doing well population-wise. (Could it be because of their deliciousness?) Seems to me the U. of Maryland's nickname is the Terrapins.
Anyhow, turtle soup elsewhere is normally made with snapping turtles, monsters which when mature wouldn't fit into a bushel basket. They inhabit rivers and lakes all over the eastern 2/3 of the US. They have a terrific bite (can easily remove your finger, for example) and can reach almost all the way back over their back to grab you. The only safe way to lift them is by the tail, but keep 'em away from your leg if you do! Snappers don't fit into their shells the way most turtles do, so their only defense is a good offense. And theirs is GOOD--so much so that they are quite fearless. Biggest snapper I've seen recently challenged a car and lost--they do that.
You behead 'em with an axe, and open the shell the same way. All the muscle tissue is edible; there are supposed to be 7 different kinds of meat in a snapper but I never saw much difference. Don't fool with the head after cutting it off--the reflexes and jaw muscles last quite a while--legend has it until sundown.
The liver and if a gravid female, the eggs, are supposed to be edible, also. Have never tried either. I would certainly consider the heart as one more muscle for the soup. Seems to me that almost any other turtle would work just as well for culinary purposes, but the snapper is so much bigger.
Anyhow, you brown the meat in oil, add whatever ingredients you have at hand (I try to use celery and carrots at least but "whatever" for veggies is fine) add rice to sop up the excess liquid, let it cook, and serve it. I wouldn't go overboard with seasonings--the meat's flavor is delicate. If that sounds kind of irreverent and informal, kind of like how chicken soup happens, it's because that's how I make soup. Sorry not to have a formal, repeatable recipie, but this will get you in the ball park, and you can develop the recipie to suit your own taste.
As Julia Child would always say, "Bon appetit!"
I do that too; there are nitwits hereabouts that seem to think it's sport to run down anything smaller than their tires: Dazzled raccoons, idiot 'possums, the neighbor's cat, dumb bunnies, and of course, slow turtles. 
But it would surprise me if my area has a monopoly. On nitwits, I mean. I bet those are the same SOB's who give us all a bad name by shooting highway signs!
