James Turner (December 20, 1766 – January 15, 1824) was the

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

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North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

from 1802 to 1805. He later served as a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from 1805 to 1816. Turner was born in

Southampton County Southampton County is a county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. North Carolina is to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,996. Its county seat is Courtland. History In the early 17th centur ...

in the Colony of Virginia; his family moved to the

Province of North Carolina Province of North Carolina was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712(p. 80) to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monarch of Great Britain was repre ...

in 1770. Raised in a family of farmers, Turner served in the North Carolina volunteer militia during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

in 1780. He served under

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependab ...

alongside

Nathaniel Macon Nathaniel Macon (December 17, 1757June 29, 1837) was an American politician who represented North Carolina in both houses of Congress. He was the fifth speaker of the House, serving from 1801 to 1807. He was a member of the United States House of ...

, with whom he formed a lasting friendship and political alliance.

Politics

In 1798, Turner was elected to the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

; he served there from 1799 to 1800, and served in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

from 1801 to 1802.

Governor

In 1802, the General Assembly elected

John Baptista Ashe John Ashe may refer to: * John Ashe (minister) (1671–1735), English dissenting minister *John Ashe (of Freshford) (1597–1658), MP for Westbury * John Ashe (priest) (born 1953), Church of England priest and Archdeacon of Lynn * John Ashe (genera ...

governor, but he died before he could assume office; Turner was chosen in his place and sworn in on December 5, 1802. He served the constitutional limit of three one-year terms and, at the end of his time as governor, was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

when Montfort Stokes resigned before serving the term to which he had been elected.

U.S. Senate

Turner served as a senator for eleven years, re-elected to a second term in 1811, resigning due to ill health in 1816. During his time in office, he supported the administration of

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. Around 1805, he introduced to the Senate a bill outlawing the importation of slaves.

Personal life, death, legacy

Turner was married three times; first to Marian Anderson in 1793 (they had four children), then to Ann Cochran in 1802, with no children, and finally to Elizabeth Johnston in 1810 (resulting in two children). Turner died in 1824 and is buried on his "Bloomsbury" plantation in

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

. In addition to Bloomsbury, he owned a second home, "Oakland," in present-day Vance County. His son Daniel Turner served in the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1827 to 1829.

Sources

* ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978'', Robert Sobel and John Raimo, eds. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. ()
North Carolina Historical Marker
James Moody Turner * Charles L. Coon, The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina: A Documentary History, 1790–1840 (1908) * Delbert H. Gilpatrick, Jeffersonian Democracy in North Carolina, 1789–1816 (1931) * William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, VI, 65—sketch by Roy Parker Jr. {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, James Governors of North Carolina United States senators from North Carolina Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives 1766 births 1824 deaths North Carolina Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians People from Southampton County, Virginia People from Warren County, North Carolina