Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/211

Rh TURNER, Nat, insurgent, b. in' Virginia about 1800 ; d. in Jerusalem. Va., 11 Nov.. 1831. He was a negro slave who believed himself chosen of the Lord to lead his people to freedom. For a long time he claimed to have heard voices in the air and to have seen signs in the sky. Portents were written on the fallen leaves of the woods and in spots of blood upon the corn in the field to inform him of a divine mission. In his Bible, which he knew by heart, he found prophecies of the great work he was called upon to do. He was regarded as having unusual mental power and resources, but he failed to make plans that promised success. Taking six men into his confidence in the autumn of 1831, he set out at an appointed time to go from house to house and kill every white person, irrespective of age or sex, to inspire universal ter- ror, and arouse the whole slave population. They began at Turner's own home, where they killed his master, and then, going to other plantations, were joined by other slaves. An advance-guard on horseback surrounded each house in turn, holding it until their followers on foot, armed with axes, scythes, and muskets, came up to complete the work of destruction, while the horsemen rode on to the next house. In forty-eight hours fifty-five white persons were killed without loss to the ne- groes, whose numbers had increased to sixty. The insurgents then moved toward Jerusalem, where they expected to find plenty of fire-arms and to be joined by large numbers ; but they separated and were attacked by two bodies of white men and dis- persed. Turner escaped to the woods, and, after spending nearly two months in hiding, was cap- tured, taken to Jerusalem, and after a trial hanged. This outbreak, known as the Southampton insur- rection, resulted in the trial of fifty-three negroes, of whom seventeen were hanged, and many others, suspected of complicity, were tortured, burned, shot, and mutilated. Terror spread through the states as far west as Kentucky, and south and southwest to Georgia and Louisiana ; but no evi- dences were ever discovered of a concerted move- ment among the slaves.

TURNER, Peter, naval officer, b. in Rhode Island, 17 Feb., 1803 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 Feb., 1871. He entered the navy as a midshipman, 4 March, 1823, became a passed midshipman, 23 March, 1829, and was commissioned lieutenant, 21 June, 1832. During the Mexican war he was pres- ent at the fall of Vera Cruz, and participated in the boat expedition at Tuspan and the second ex- pedition at Tabasco, where he served with credit. He commanded the store-ship " Southampton " in the Pacific squadron in 1851-'2. He was placed on the reserved list in 1855, and was on waiting orders until 1861, when he was commissioned com- mander on 1 July, and was governor of the naval asylum at Philadelphia during the civil war. He was promoted to commodore, 25 July, 1862.

TURNER, Philip, surgeon, b. in Norwich, Conn., 25 Feb., 1740; d. in New York city, 20 April, 1815. He was left an orphan at the age of twelve, and adopted by Dr. Elisha Tracy, under whom he studied medicine and whose daughter he married. In 1759 he was appointed an assistant surgeon to a provincial regiment that served under Gen. Jeffrey Amherst at Fort Ticonderoga. After the peace of 1763 he settled in Norwich, where at the beginning of the Revolutionary war he was unrivalled as a surgeon. In 1775 he was the first surgeon of the Connecticut troops before Boston, and in 1776 he accompanied the Continental army to New York, attending it at the battles of Long Island and White Plains. Dr. Turner was ap- pointed surgeon-general of the Eastern department in 1777, and filled that post with great ability till near the close of the Revolutionary war. He then resumed his private practice in Norwich, but removed in 1800 to New York citv, and soon after- ward was appointed a surgeon to the staff of the U. S. army and stationed on Manhattan island. Dr. Turner was interred with military honors in the church-yard of St. Paul's in New York city.

TURNER, Samuel Hnlbeart, clergyman, b. in Philadelphia. Pa., 23 Jan., 1790; d. in New York city, 21 Dec, 1861. He entered the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, was graduated in 1807, studied for the ministry in the Episcopal church for three years under Bishop White's direction, and was ordained deacon in St. Paul's church, Philadelphia, 27 Jan., 1811, by Bishop White, and priest in 1814 by the same bishop. He accepted a call to the Episcopal church in Chestertown, Md., and served in that post in 1812-'17. He was appointed superintendent of the theological school in Philadelphia in 1818, and had Alonzo Potter (afterward bishop of Pennsylvania) as his first pupil. At the close of the same year he was ap- pointed professor of historic theology in the Gen- eral theological seminary of the Episcopal Church, toward establishing and endowing which efforts were then and subsequently made to good purpose. In 1820 the institution was removed to New Haven, Conn., but at the close of 1821 it was brought back again to New York city. The seminary was reor- ganized and Dr. Turner was appointed professor of biblical learning and interpretation of Holy Scrip- tures. He occupied this post until the time of his death. In 1830 he was appointed professor of the Hebrew language and literature in Columbia col- lege, but there was little or no call for active ser- vice at any time. The professor delivered in 1831 a course of three lectures on the Hebrew language, which were afterward printed. Dr. Turner was always a diligent student, especially in his own de- partment, and published a large number of works in the way of scripture exposition and in defence of his views of theology and church principles. They include " Notes on the Epistle to the Romans ' (New York, 1824: enlarged ed., 1853); "Compan- ion to the Book of Genesis " (1841) ; " Biographical Notices of the Most Distinguished Jewish Rabbis " (1847) ; " Essay on our Lord's Discourse at Caper- naum, in St. John's Gospel, with Strictures on Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures on the Real Pres- ence " (1851) : " Thoughts on the Origin, Charac- ter, and Interpretation of Scripture Prophecy " (1852) ; " St, Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, Greek and English, with Commentary " (1852) ; " Epistle to the Ephesians, with Commentary " (1856) ; "Epistle to the Galatians, with Commentary" (1856) ; and " Spiritual Things compared to Spirit- ual " (1859). In conjunction with Rev. Dr. Will- iam R. Whittingham, he translated " Jahn's Intro- duction to the Old Testament " (1827) and " In- troduction to Sacred Philology and Interpretation, by Dr. Gottlieb J. Planck " (1834). He published also various sermons on special occasions, tractates, articles in reviews, etc. Shortly after his death was published " Autobiography of Samuel H. Turner. D. D." (New York, 1863).

TURNER, Thomas, naval officer, b. in Washington, D. C. 23 Dec, 1808 ; d. in Glen Mills, Pa., 24 March, 1883. He entered the navy as a mid- shipman, 21 April, 1825, became a passed midshipman, 4 June, 1831, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 22 Dec, 1835. He served in the frigate "Macedonian" in the exploring expedition of 1837-8, and in the frigate " Columbia," the flag-