Augustus John Turner, (October 12, 1818 – May 14, 1905), known as "A. J. Turner", was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

band leader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He was the first director of the

Stonewall Brigade Band The Stonewall Brigade Band is a community concert band based in Staunton, Virginia. It is the United States's oldest continuous community band sponsored by local government and funded, in part, by tax monies. Originally a brass band, the band was ...

of Staunton,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, the oldest continuous community band funded by tax moneys in the United States. They were mustered into the

Stonewall Brigade The Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, was a famous combat unit in United States military history. It was trained and first led by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, a professor from Virginia Military In ...

under

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

of the Confederacy during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Turner served through the Valley Campaign, the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, command ...

, and was at the

Battle of Cedar Mountain The Battle of Cedar Mountain, also known as Slaughter's Mountain or Cedar Run, took place on August 9, 1862, in Culpeper County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks attacked Confederate f ...

. Turner was a professor of music at the Wesleyan Female Institute, the Staunton Male Academy, and the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute. He also played a part in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

Ancestry and early years

Augustus John Turner was born on October 12, 1818, in

Spartanburg County, South Carolina Spartanburg County is a County (United States), county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 327,997, making it the fifth-most populous county ...

, to Samuel M. Turner and Mahala Johnson Chapman. His father Samuel was a farmer living near the site of Fort Prince. Both Turner's grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War. His father Samuel's father was James Turner, who settled in South Carolina near Coulter's Ford on the

Pacolet River The Pacolet River is a tributary of the Broad River, about 50 miles (80 km) long, in northwestern South Carolina in the United States.patriots the night before the

Battle of Cowpens The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colo ...

. He married Margaret Headen. Horseshoe Robinson married Sarah Headen, making James Turner and Robinson brothers-in-law. A. J. Turner's mother's father was Jack Chapman, a Revolutionary war captain in Virginia. Jack Chapman married the sister of Jammie Seay. Both Samuel Turner and Jack Chapman were active at Mount Zion Baptist Church, whose pastor was

John Gill Landrum John Gill Landrum (October 22, 1810 – January 19, 1882) was a Baptist pastor from Spartanburg, South Carolina, the namesake of Landrum, South Carolina. He signed the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. He was most prominently at Mount Zi ...

. On his death, A. J. Turner wrote this

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

: Lo! a Prince in Zion has been taken away. And mourners thread the streets day after day. No face is seen that does not deepest sorrow show; Departed are our joys and only bitter woe Remains, since thou, oh! Counselor and friend, Unto thy grave are gone can no longer lend Mankind thy sage advise - God pity on us send.

Frederick County

Before moving to Staunton, Turner lived in Middletown and Newtown (now Stephen's' City), near

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Frederick County, Virginia Frederick County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,419. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. It is Virginia's northernmost county. ...

. He married Catherine ("Kate") Montrose Aby on July 1, 1845, in Frederick County. The ceremony was performed by John Allemong. Kate Aby's father was a shoemaker and veteran of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. Her mother, who lived at

Thorndale Farm Thorndale Farm is a historic farm property at 652 North Buckton Road, in rural Frederick County, Virginia east of Middletown. The property, over in size, includes a wood-frame farmhouse built about 1790 and enlarged and restyled in the Greek R ...

, was the daughter of a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

in the American Revolution. In 1846, a son was born in Newtown, Charles W. Turner. Turner also spent time at Greenville, where he played with the famous

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

ist

Joel Sweeney Joel Walker Sweeney (1810 – October 29, 1860), also known as Joe Sweeney, was an American musician and early blackface minstrel performer. He is known for popularizing the playing of the banjo and has often been credited with advancing the p ...

in 1847, and organized a band in Middlebrook. In 1847 a second son was born in Middletown,

T. M. Turner Thomas Memory Turner (July 17, 1847 – September 2, 1917) was an American composer, band leader, and music professor. He was known to his friends as "Mem". He was once assistant director of the Stonewall Brigade Band of Staunton, Virginia, the U ...

. Turner's house in Newtown was destroyed in a fire on December 2, 1856.

Staunton

Turner moved to 26 Fayette Street in Staunton by 1858. He eventually moved to 15 Fayette Street in Staunton. He grew tomatoes in his garden.

Stonewall Brigade Band

In Staunton, Virginia, in 1855, David W. Drake sought help in founding a band. He enlisted the help of Turner, his former music teacher in Newtown, persuading him to move to Staunton. Together with two other citizens of Staunton, they formed the Mountain

Saxhorn The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a ...

Band. Turner was the band's first director, and it is still active today, the oldest continuous community band funded by tax moneys in the United States. They gave their first formal concert on July 17, 1857, at Union Hall on Beverley Street in Staunton. At the concert on December 1, 1857, Turner was presented by lawyer A. H. H. Stuart and the band with a silver cornet. By 1859 the band had come to be known as Turner's Silver

Cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

Band. At Armory Hall on April 4, 1861, Turner's Silver Cornet Band, together with the Staunton Musical Association and the Glee Club, presented the last concert to be given before the Civil War. Turner played the

soprano cornet The soprano cornet is a transposing brass instrument similar to the standard B cornet but pitched a fourth higher in E. A single soprano cornet is usually seen in brass bands and silver bands and can be found playing lead or descant parts in ...

Civil War

The band was mustered into the

5th Virginia Infantry The 5th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought in the Stonewall Brigade, mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia. The regime ...

Regiment under

and Colonel William S. Baylor, and left Staunton on April 17, 1861. Soon after the Battle of

First Manassas The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

, the band earned the name Stonewall Brigade Band, and has been known as such ever since. As well as playing their instruments, band members fought and acted as couriers and letter bearers or medical assistants. In addition to entertaining the troops in the field, the band frequently appeared in concerts in Fredericksburg,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Staunton, and elsewhere to support recruiting rallies, clothing drives, and war relief fundraising. An account of the

Battle of Hoke's Run The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Notable as ...

in the ''Staunton Spectator'' reads: "Little Charley Turner, a boy about 15 years of age, insisted so strongly on going with the Augusta Guards that his father finally yielded to his importunities and allowed him to go. The result shows that little Charley went to perform service, for he made one of the enemy bite the dust." Though not in the band, Turner's first son Charles was an orderly and courier for Stonewall Jackson. A. J. Turner and his son T. M. Turner enlisted for the Confederacy on April 1, 1862. They served through the Valley Campaign, the

around Richmond, and were at the

. They were discharged because of age (A. J. too old and T. M. too young) on August 22, 1862. They were then in the Churchville Cavalry Troop, 14th Virginia Company I for a time, commanded by James A. Cochran.

Post-war

The band was reorganized in 1869 with Turner as leader and his son T. M. Turner as assistant leader. A. J. Turner directed the band until 1884. In 1881, he organized Fravel's Cornet Band in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

Music teacher

Turner could play many instruments. An 1860 advert for his services reads, "Teaches

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, &c, &c; also Ballad Singing". An 1896 ad reads, "Prof. A. J. Turner respectfully solicits a class of young people of both sexes in music ... Instruments: violin, piano, guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and cornet." He tuned pianos, and was also an agent for the sale of

Knabe Knabe is a German word meaning ''boy'', cognate with the English word '' knave''. In English-language use it appears as a surname, for the following people: * Don Knabe (born 1943), American politician * Kerstin Knabe (born 1959), German athlete ...

and Stieff pianos.

Wesleyan Female Institute

Turner's first job in Staunton was teaching vocal and instrumental music at the Wesleyan Female Institute, next to the Methodist Church, and across from Trinity Episcopal Church.

Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute

Turner was appointed professor of music at the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute in November 1866, teaching the blind pupils until the 1890s. He "evolved many of the methods now in vogue for giving blind children a musical education." One account of the institute's annual concert praises the pupils for "a high degree of musical taste and talent".

Staunton Male Academy

In 1888-89, Turner was a professor of music teaching piano, violin, guitar, and cornet at the Staunton Male Academy.

Temperance

Turner was active in the

and in 1878 was elected the Most Worthy Grand Chief of the Sons of

Jonadab Jonadab is a figure in the Hebrew Bible, appearing in 2 Samuel 13. He is described in verse 3 as the son of Shimeah, who was the brother of David, making Jonadab a cousin to Amnon as well as his friend. He is called "very wise" (''ḥākām mĕ' ...

, for the district covering Virginia and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Indianapolis

Turner left for

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Indiana, in 1900 to live with his daughter Cora Turner Freijs. He would reside there until his death in Washington Township. His former house in Staunton sold for $3,350 soon after his death.

List of compositions

*"Gallopade", 1857 *"At Eve Beneath Stars' Soft Light: or Memories of Old", 1858 *"Bessie Bell Waltz", 1858 *"Pray Maiden, Pray", 1864, lyrics by A. W. Kercheval. *"Palmetto Schottisch", 1864 *"Spring time polka", 1864 *"La Perle", 1875, melody by J. P. Kavenaugh, arranged for piano by A. J. Turner *"Dedication March", 1879 *"Peyton Summerson's Funeral March", 1879Tracing Footsteps by Lillian Frazier
/ref>

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, A. J. 1818 births 1905 deaths Musicians from South Carolina People from Spartanburg County, South Carolina People from Staunton, Virginia Confederate States Army personnel Stonewall Brigade American cornetists American male composers American bandleaders People of Virginia in the American Civil War 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century American pianists 19th-century American composers People from Frederick County, Virginia Musicians from Virginia American male pianists Piano tuners