Preceded by Roy E. Furman Political party Republican Party Name Ellwood Turner | Religion Presbyterian Children 5 children Succeeded by Elmer Kilroy | |
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Addis Downing Alma mater Swarthmore College
University of Pennsylvania Law School Died March 1, 1948, Chester, Pennsylvania, United States Education University of Pennsylvania Law School, Swarth College | ||
Ellwood Jackson Turner (August 9, 1886 – March 1, 1948) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1925 to 1948, serving as Speaker from 1939 to 1941.
Biography
Ellwood Turner was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to Frederick Fairthorne and Virginia (née Short) Turner. He moved with his family to Scranton, then Wilkes-Barre, before settling in Chester. He graduated from Chester High School in 1904.
He attended Swarthmore College for one year before studying at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his LL.B. degree in 1908. At Penn, he served as class president each year, played on the varsity football team, and was a member of the Mask and Wig Club. He practiced law in Philadelphia and opened an office in Chester in 1912. He married Elizabeth Addis Downing in 1911; the couple had five children. He served as the first president of the Kiwanis Club of Chester after it was founded in 1919; he was later elected Governor of the Pennsylvania District (1920) and Vice-President of Kiwanis International (1924).
Turner was first elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County in 1924. An opponent of fellow Republican Governor Gifford Pinchot, he spoke out against Pinchot's proposal to dissolve the state Public Service Commission, and called for transferring control of the state budget from the governor to the auditor general. He also introduced legislation prohibiting more than one family member from working for the state, a proposal which was aimed at Pinchot's personal secretary (who was married to a clerical worker in the governor's office). He was also a leading opponent of Pinchot's Democratic successor, Governor George H. Earle.
Turner became House Speaker after Republicans regained control of the legislature in 1939, serving in that position until 1941. He was elected to the Board of Managers of the Council of State Governments in 1937, serving as chairman in 1940. He also served as chairman of the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin. In 1945, he unsuccessfully challenged E. Wallace Chadwick for the Republican nomination for the county probate court.