Henry G. Turner

Henry Gray Turner (March 20, 1839 – June 9, 1904) was an American politician, teacher, jurist and soldier. The Henry Gray Turner House in Quitman, Georgia is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Henry Gray Turner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1893
Preceded byWilliam Ephraim Smith
Succeeded byBenjamin E. Russell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 11th district
In office
March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded byWilliam Gordon Brantley
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
In office
1874-1876
1878-1879
Personal details
Born(1839-03-20)March 20, 1839
Henderson, North Carolina
DiedJune 9, 1904(1904-06-09) (aged 65)
Raleigh, North Carolina
Resting placeWest End Cemetery[1]
Quitman, Georgia
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLavinia Calhoun Morton[2]
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
OccupationAttorney
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States
Branch/service Confederate States Army
Rank Captain
Unit23rd North Carolina Infantry[2]
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Biography

Turner was born near Henderson, North Carolina. He attended the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville in 1857 before moving to Brooks County, Georgia, in 1859 to teach school.[3]

During the American Civil War, Turner enlisted as a private in the Confederate States Army and eventually rose to the rank of captain. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 he was struck in the left shoulder by a rifle ball and taken prisoner.[2] After the war, he studied law, gained admittance to the state bar in 1865 and began practicing law in Quitman, Georgia. In 1874, Turner was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in the State Assembly and served in that capacity until 1876. He also served as a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention.[3]

After two more terms in 1878 and 1879 in the state house, Turner was elected to the 47th United States Congress as a Democratic Representative. He was re-elected to Congress for seven additional terms until deciding not to run in 1896.[3]

After his political service, Turner returned to his law practice in Quitman. In 1903, he was appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Turner died the next year in Raleigh, North Carolina and was buried in West End Cemetery in Quitman.[3] Turner County, Georgia is named in his honor.[4]

Fiction

Turner is the great-grandfather of a fictional character, Henry Gray Turner II, in a book by author Rob Morton, God, Forgive These Bastards.[5] The book places Turner's great-grandson in the early twenty-first century and reads like his memoir. "In the late 1970s," the book jacket reads, "Henry Turner went from being a local hero and star pitcher of the Georgia Tech Wildcats to an abusive, alcoholic drifter. After spending his later years in homeless encampments and psych wards, Turner turned his demons to his advantage and became a kind, beloved street story-teller, a friend of the down-and-out, and a public transit angel."

References
  1. "Henry Gray Turner". Find A Grave. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. "Turner, Henry Gray". North Carolina Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. "Turner, Henry Gray". United States Congress. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  4. Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 233. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
  5. Morton, Rob (12 July 2012). God, Forgive These Bastards: Stories from the Forgotten Life of Georgia Tech Pitcher Henry Turner. ISBN 9781621068761.

Sources


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