Charles W Turner (attorney)

Early years

Charles William Turner was born on June 6, 1846, in Stephens City, Virginia, then known as Newtown, to A. J. Turner and Kate Aby. Charles sometimes signed his name Charles William H. Turner, perhaps due to his great-grandfather, Charles W. Hulett, who was a drummer in the Revolutionary War. By the late 1850s his parents had moved to Staunton.

Civil War

Turner gave his services to the Confederacy for the duration of the American Civil War. By the end of the war Turner was commissioned a lieutenant.

Stonewall Brigade

Turner enlisted on June 9, 1861, in Shepherdstown, Maryland, and was mustered into the 5th Virginia Infantry, Company L, known as the "West Augusta Guards", part of the Stonewall Brigade. Turner ran mail as a courier under Stonewall Jackson. His father A. J. was a band leader for the 5th Infantry.

Battle of Falling Waters

An account of the Battle of Falling Waters 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."

VMI

Turner enrolled at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on April 15, 1864. He graduated from VMI in 1867. Edward Magruder Tutwiler was a member of the same class.

Battle of New Market

Soon after he enrolled, Turner was one of the cadets who participated in the Battle of New Market, as a private in Company C. Major General John C. Breckinridge reluctantly ordered the charge of the young cadets to fill a gap in his right wing, resulting in the cadets having taken part in a Confederate victory. The cadet battalion captured a Union cannon. Turner was listed as "slightly wounded", as was John Sergeant Wise of Company D. Years later, another cadet in Turner's company wrote an account of the events preceding the charge.

I noticed just in front of my company an orchard and a dwelling house, and I think it was about here that the enemy's fire was most destructive to our Battalion. We went through the yard very close to the house, and it seems to me that a short distance beyond this house we were ordered to lie down behind the remnant of a worm-fence, about two rails high. Noticing Shriver, Cadet Captain of C Co., going further to the front, I followed him, and when about 30 yards in front of the line I saw him fall, or, as I supposed at the time, lie down for protection. At that I dropped as flat as I could in a furrow, and with my face close to the ground I could see a clear space next to the earth under the cloud of smoke, and right in front, covered by the smoke like a tarpaulin, I could see emerging the felloes and 12 inches of the spokes of what I think may have been the wheel of a Yankee gun.

As well as I can make it out, my position was right between the Cadets and the Yankee battery and line of battle. The distance between the fence-row occupied by the Cadets and the Yankee front could not have been more than 200 yards.

The fire was furious at this time. It seemed to me I saw pieces of paper caught up and swept towards us by the currents of air set in motion by the projectiles and the boughs of a large tree immediately in my front were all stretched out and swaying towards us. I believed I was bound to get killed but I did not want to get killed out of ranks, so I made a spurt back to the line and scuttled in behind 2 rails alongside of some fellows.

Whilst lying here with the air literally filled with Yankee missiles, each of which seemed to miss me only by a scant sixteenth of an inch, I noticed the Color Sergeant of a body of troops on our left and rear, jump up, and along with the Color Guard run the front and establish himself upon the prolongation of our line.

In a second a number of his regiment were running to the front and grouping themselves around him. I saw them falling like jackstraws, on their backs, faces, sides and knees. Then the flag, which had been perfectly erect in the centre of the group, dipped almost to the ground, but some one had it up again in a moment. Then the regiment arose with a yell and rushed into line.

Post war

After the war, Turner engaged in mercantile pursuits in his native Staunton as well as Baltimore. While in Baltimore he worked for the firm of Chaney, Randall, and Co. In Staunton he was a merchandise auctioneer with partner W. M. Chewning. There, Turner was also a member of the "Philomathesian Society" (cf. the Philomathean Society).

Montana

Near the end of 1869, he moved to Montana, where he was admitted to the bar to practice law. He was in Meagher County by 1870.

Mining

Turner became interested in mining pursuits due to gold discoveries, and moved to Bannack around 1875. While there, a major washout of his flume resulting in a loss of two years' earnings caused him to return to his law practice.

Glendale

Turner then moved to Glendale, where he served as chairman of the Democratic ratification meeting. A band leading the procession played a medley in front of Turner's "brilliantly lighted residence".

Marriage

On September 11, 1879, Turner married Emma Armstrong, daughter of Noah Armstrong, in Glendale. She bore his first son, Armstrong Memory Turner, in Glendale on July 25, 1880.

Helena

Turner lived in Glendale until about 1886 when he sold his mining interests and moved to Helena, where he was an active member of the Knights Templar. The meeting of the stockholders of the Bowling Mining Company met at Turner's house. Another son, Charles Jr., was born on April 20, 1889, in Helena.

Adjutant General

Turner was appointed Adjutant General of Montana by Governor Preston Leslie in February 1887. Due to this appointment, the title "General" often precedes Turner's name. He was the first to hold the office since Martin Beem in 1867. The state militia was formed after much action from volunteer companies against Indians. Turner said of the organization:

They are uniformed at individual expense and maintain armories in which they keep their arms and company property and meet for drill, the expense of which is defrayed, in part at least, from the annual appropriation made by the legislature to each company. The infantry and cavalry companies are armed, respectively, with rifles and carbines of the patterns now issued in the army, but some of the infantry companies have neither cartridges boxes nor belts of such patterns and the cavalry are without accoutrements, sabres, pistols, saddles, or bridles except such sabres as they have procured at individual expense . . ."

Seattle

Not long after the Great Seattle Fire, Turner moved to Seattle, Washington. Turner practiced law with James B. Metcalfe, the first Attorney General of the state, and Andrew F. Burleigh, with whom he had partnered in Helena. Metcalfe and Turner remained law partners until January 1892. Turner then was part of the law firm of Turner & McCutcheon until the partnership dissolved on January 27, 1894. He then practiced independently, living for many years at the corner of 9th Avenue and Alder St.

Assassination

On January 7, 1907, Turner was shot to death by one T. W. Emmons in the saloon of Russell & Mix at 1206 First Avenue for alleged wrongs between Emmons and Turner's client Andy T. Russell.

Russell was one of the owners of the saloon. Emmons had invested his only money upon arriving in Seattle in a cigar shop in front of the saloon, and had received notice to vacate the street. Russell was shot in the left shoulder. Turner was shot in the liver and the spine. Upon being struck, Turner ran to the front door and had nearly reached it when he collapsed and died. Russell ran into a nearby hotel before realizing he too was shot. The assassin Emmons then looked at himself in a large mirror and shot himself in the right temple. He left a note for the coroner explaining his motives. It seems Russell was the target of the attack, though the letter makes some reference to "Russell's pussy-cat lawyer".

Funeral

Turner was buried on January 10 in Seattle's Lake View Cemetery. The services were under the auspices of Seattle Commandery No. 2, Knights Templars, of which he was a member. The funeral was largely attended and the casket containing the remains was banked with floral offerings. The following sir knights acted as pallbearers: J. M. Palmer, J. C. Peterson, E. W. Craven, W. V. Rinehart, R. C. Hassen, and H. A. Raser. The honorary pallbearers were: J. T. Ronald, J. B. Jurey, Andrew Hemrich, J. F. Hale, S. S. Carlisle, P. P. Carroll, and ex-Judge Alfred.