Background
TURNER, Joseph Addison was born on September 23, 1826 in Putnam County, Georgia, United States, United States. Son of the writer and politician William Turner and his wife Lucy (Butler).
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Joseph Addison TURNER
Edit ProfileEducation
Private school, southern university.
Career
He attended Phoenix Academy and Emory College, Georgia, but had to leave school in 1846 for financial reasons. After teaching at Phoenix Academy in 1846, he moved the following year to Eatonton, Georgia, where he studied law with Junius Wingfield and was admitted to the bar. He was a Methodist and a Union Democrat.
Turner married the wealthy Lou Dennis on November 28, 1850. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1848, he moved to Monticello in Jasper County, Georgia, and wrote for the Southern Literary Messenger.
The following year he started Turner’s Monthly, but it soon failed and he returned to Eatonton to farm and to practice law. He spent much time working for and editing insignificant magazines. In 1855, he supported Herschel V. Johnson for governor and opposed the Know-Nothings.
In 1856, he ran unsuccessfully for solicitor general of the Ocmulgee Circuit, and in 1857, he lost a bid for the state Senate. In 1858, he became anti-Democratic, and in 1859, he was elected to the Georgia Senate. Turner was neither a secessionist nor a submissionist.
He edited The Countryman in 1862, a newspaper which, with its humor, was well received by the troops. Through his paper, he stressed unity and cooperation in the South, denounced Governor Joseph Brown, and supported President Davis. Turner wrote for other newspapers and, in addition, he organized a hat factory and contracted for hat deliveries to the army during the war years.
He was denounced by Governor Joseph Brown as a speculator in war profits. After the war, he was ruined financially, and his paper was suppressed by the federal military authorities. He ran unsuccessfully for judge in Putnam County in 1866.
Religion
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Politics
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
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Born
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Died
February 29, 1868 (aged 41) -
Nationality
United States -
Religion
Methodist -
Political Party
Democrat