| 4. | Judge Edward Turner  (3.Lewis3, 2.William2, 1.Fielding1) was born on 25 Nov 1778 in Fairfax Co, Virginia; died on 23 May 1860 in Woodlands Plantation, Natchez, Adams Co, Mississippi. Other Events and Attributes:
- Occupation: Natchez District, Mississippi; practiced law
- Residence: Jan 1802, Natchez, Adams Co, Mississippi; from Kentucky
- Politics: 17 Aug 1802, Mississippi Territory; clerk of County Court
- Politics: 1805, Natchez District, Mississippi; city magistrate
Notes:
Edward Turner was born in Fairfax County, Virginia on November 25, 1778 [Goodspeed, Rowland]. He was the son of Lewis Ellzey/Elzey Turner and Theodosia Payne, the daughter of Col. Edward Payne of Virginia [Levin] and his wife Ann Holland Congers [Wulfeck]. Edward Payne and his wife, Ann were married on February 27, 1750. Edward Payne was the eldest son of William Payne, Sr., and his wife Alicia. Edward Payne and Ann moved to Kentucky about 1785. Edward Payne died in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1805 [Wulfeck]. Edward Payne was born in Stafford County, Virginia in 1726 [Wulfeck]. He was appointed as a member of the Military Commission from Fairfax County, Virginia on May 19, 1761 [Bockstruck].
(snip)
At the age of eight years, our Edward Turner and his family moved to Kentucky, arriving there in 1786. Edward s father, Lewis Ellzey Turner, owned a farm about five miles west of
Lexington, Kentucky in Fayette County [Peter]. His parents were still in Fayette County as of 1806, four years after Edward had removed to the Mississippi Territory [Cook and Cummings].
Edward attended country schools and graduated from Transylvania College in Lexington and soon began the study of law. In 1799, at the age of twenty-one, he was taken into the family of Col. George Nichols, the first law professor of the college. He read law and clerked for Col. Nichols until Nichols died later that year [Rowland]. Col. Nichols had arrived in Lexington in 1788 and became the first Attorney General for Kentucky. He died at the age of 55 years at his home [Staples].
Turner continued his studies in law under the second law professor, James Brown, assisted by Turner s elder brother, Fielding Turner, who was also a lawyer at the time. Fielding Turner was later to end up in Mississippi, being admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1807. Ten years later, Fielding was to marry Carolina Augusta Sargent, the daughter of Winthrop Sargent, the first Territorial Governor of Mississippi [Rowland]. Their marriage notice was published in the
Washington Republican on September 27, 1817. Fielding later removed to Louisiana in pursuit of his own career.
Edward Turner came to the Mississippi Territory via boat, arriving at Natchez in January of 1802 at the age of 25 [Carter, Goodspeed]. Edward was one of four brothers to leave Kentucky; Henry remained at Natchez, one went to Bayou Sara in Louisiana, and the fourth, Fielding, after staying
at Natchez for a while went to New Orleans, who, as a merchant, planter, lawyer and judge of the Criminal Court of Louisiana [Levin], accumulated a large fortune. Fielding was to return to Fayette County, Kentucky, purchase his father's original farm near Lexington and retire. Fielding died in October of 1843, survived by four children [Levin].
Our Edward Turner was appointed as Aide-de-Camp and private secretary for Governor W. C. C. Claiborne of the Mississippi Territory and served as Clerk of the House of Representatives soon after his arrival [Goodspeed, Rowland]. In 1802 Turner was involved with local republicans in an attempt to move the territorial capitol from Washington to Greenville [James]. That same year, Edward Turner married the daughter of Colonel Cato West, the Secretary of the
Mississippi Territory [Carter]. On August 17, 1802, he was appointed Clerk of the County Court in Jefferson County by Governor Claiborne, succeeding John Girault [McDowell].
(from a tree in Ancestry)
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The death of Turner's infant daughter, Martha Ann Turner, on June 15, 1809, was reported in the Weekly Chronicle, of Greenville [Rowland].
This from Dunbar Rowland http://www.archive.org/stream/mississippisfirs00rowl/mississippisfirs00rowl_djvu.txt
Edward Turner,of Natchez, was a strong worker and leader of the Convention. He had many honors conferred on him while Mississippi was a Territory and they were increased when the State was admitted to the Union. He was an elegant, cultured Virginia gentleman and was the son-in-law of Col. Cato West. He served the Territory and State as Clerk of the Legislature, Register of the Land Office, Attorney General, Circuit Judge, Chancellor, Congressman, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Turner brought great legal learning into the Convention and with Poindexter, Rankin, Taylor and Iveake as his co-laborers he did much of the actual labor and toil of its proceedings. The cause of education early engaged the attention of citizens of Jefferson County, and a society was incorporated by the General Assembly for the establishment of academies and the diffusion of knowledge. This society was chartered January 8, 1807, and was called the "Franklin Society of Jefferson County." Its members were Cato West, Thomas M. Green, Thos. Fitzpatrick, John Shaw, Daniel Beasley, Charles B. Howell, Wm. Snodgrass, David Snodgrass, Edward Turner, John Hopkins, Henry D. Downs, James S. Rollins, Thomas Calvit, Robert Cox, Henry Green, Felix Hughes, Armstrong Ellis, Jacob Stampley, John Brooks, Thomas Hinds, William Thomas, and Robert McCray. The association did much to further the cause of learning and morality, and established two schools, a male and a female, which flourished for many years. The female school later became a highly successful seminary for young ladies, under the management of Hon. David Ker, and his accomplished wife and daughters. It was located near old Greenville.
From http://www.mymississippigenealogy.com/ms-county-jefferson.html
A monument remembering the Miss Constitutional Convention
THE NAMES OF CATO WEST, DELEGATE FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY, AND JOHN SHAW, DELEGATE FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY DO NOT APPEAR ON THE ABOVE ROLL OF DELEGATES. JOHN SHAW DIED DURING THE SESSION OF THE CONVENTION. CATO WEST REFUSED TO SIGN THE CONSTITUTION BECAUSE HE OPPOSED THE DIVISION OF MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA TERRITORY
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/8371004/person/-929947984/media/7
Politics:
On August 17, 1802, he was appointed Clerk of the
County Court in Jefferson County by Governor Claiborne, succeeding John Girault [McDowell].
Politics:
In 1805, the Territorial Assembly established a Mayor's Court in Natchez, giving it power to resolve civil cases with disputes up to $500.
Turner was City Magistrate in this court and was later to write of it saying it was "...too summary for debtors-hence the outcry" [James].
Edward married Mary Jane West in 1802 in Mississippi Territory. Mary (daughter of Col. Cato West, Sr. and Martha Wills Green) was born about 1781 in Mississippi Territory; died in Feb 1811. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 6. Theodosia Lavina Turner was born in 1805; died on 19 Feb 1827 in Natchez, Adams Co, Mississippi.
- 7. Martha Ann Turner was born before 15 Jun 1809; died before 15 Jun 1809 in Natchez District, Mississippi.
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Edward married Eliza B. Baker in Dec 1812 in Natchez, Adams Co, Mississippi. Eliza was born in New Jersey; died in Natchez, Adams Co, Mississippi. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1706 - 1794 (88 years)