Turner, Benjamin Sterling, 1825-1894

TURNER, Benjamin Sterling, a Representative from Alabama; born near Weldon, Halifax County, N.C., March 17, 1825; raised as a slave; received no early education; moved to Alabama in 1830 and by clandestine study obtained a fair education; engaged in mercantile pursuits; elected tax collector of Dallas County in 1867; councilman of the city of Selma in 1869; elected as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1873); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1872 to the Forty-third Congress; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880; engaged in agricultural pursuits in Alabama; died in Selma, Dallas County, Ala., March 21, 1894; interment in Live Oak Cemetery.

<p>Benjamin Sterling Turner (March 17, 1825 – March 21, 1894) was an American businessman and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives representing Alabama's 1st congressional district in the 42nd United States Congress.</p>

<p>Turner was born into slavery in Halifax County, North Carolina near the town of Weldon. His parents were slaves. He was taken with his mother to Alabama at age five, as part of the forced migration of the internal slave trade. Turner received no early education. By clandestine study he obtained a fair education. He seems to have remained enslaved until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863.</p>

<p>Turner engaged in mercantile pursuits and set up a livery stable in Selma, Alabama. In the 1870 Census, he reported an estate worth $10,000. He joined the Republican Party after the Civil War and was elected tax collector of Dallas County, Alabama in 1867. He served as councilman of the city of Selma in 1869.</p>

<p>Benjamin Sterling Turner (1825-1894) was an entrepreneur, business executive, civic leader, and legislator. Turner became the first African American Republican representative from Alabama elected to the U.S. Congress (1871-1873). He was a political moderate and proponent of reconciliation who promoted the industriousness of his constituents and sought to restore political rights for former Confederates. Turner was a loyal Republican regarding issues of education and civil rights.</p>

<p>Turner was born on March 17, 1825, in Weldon, Halifax County, North Carolina, into slavery. In 1830, his widowed owner, Elizabeth Turner, relocated to Selma, Dallas County, along the Alabama River, where Turner allegedly obtained an informal education alongside the family's white children. In 1845, the husband of Elizabeth Turner's stepdaughter, Maj. W. H. Gee, purchased Turner. His education continued through reading newspapers, and by age 20, he could read and write fluently. Gee employed him as the manager of the Gee Hotel in Selma, and he also worked semi-independently at a livery stable and as a woodcutter. Turner kept a portion of the profits from these endeavors. Physician James T. Gee, brother of W. H. Gee, inherited Turner upon W. H. Gee's death, and, recognizing Turner's skills and intelligence, employed him as manager of the St. James Hotel in Selma. In the 1850s, Turner married an enslaved African American woman named Independence, with whom he had a son named Osceola, who remained in the care of Turner through the 1870s. The couple was forcibly separated following her sale to a white slaveholder.</p>

<p>Prior to the Civil War, Turner purchased property and maintained his owner's property and businesses and continued this oversight while Gee served in the Confederate Army. In the spring of 1865, Union troops burned two-thirds of Selma, which resulted in a financial loss of at least $8,000, as estimated by Turner. He would attempt to gain repayment from the Southern Claims Commission, which allowed Union sympathizers from southern states to apply for reimbursements for wartime property losses. Following the war, he operated a successful livery stable, worked as a farmer, merchant, and teacher, and founded the first school in Selma for the education of African American children. In 1867, Turner attended the Republican state convention and was elected the tax collector of Dallas County. By 1869, he had become the first African American city councilman in Selma but refused to accept financial compensation and resigned. In September 1870, he became the foreman of the Central Fire Company, No. 2, in Selma. The Census of that year reported that Turner owned $2,150 in real estate and $10,000 in personal property, which made him one of the wealthiest freedmen in Alabama.</p>

<p>A former slave and a self–made businessman who lost property during the Civil War, Benjamin Turner focused on restoring peace and repairing economic damage in the war–ravaged South. The first African–American Representative from Alabama, Turner tirelessly promoted the industriousness of his black constituents. “These people have struggled longer and labored harder, and have made more of the raw material than any people in the world,” he noted on the House Floor. “Since they have been free they have not slackened in their industry, but materially improved their economy.” Turner also struck a conciliatory tone with white constituents, seeking restored political rights for former Confederates before Congress passed laws declaring general amnesty. His political moderation limited his legislative influence in an institution still controlled by Radical Republicans.</p>

<p>Benjamin Sterling Turner was born a slave on March 17, 1825, in Weldon, North Carolina. His widowed owner, Elizabeth Turner, moved to Selma, Alabama, in 1830, taking five–year–old Turner to live with her on the Alabama River. Turner obtained an education, most likely sitting in as a playmate on lessons for the family’s white children. He was sold at age 20 to Major W. H. Gee, the husband of Elizabeth Turner’s stepdaughter. Gee owned a hotel and a livery stable and permitted Turner to manage the businesses and keep part of the profits. Major Gee’s brother, James, inherited Turner upon his brother’s death, and Turner managed James Gee’s hotel. Turner married a black woman, but a white man purchased her as his mistress. Turner never remarried, but the 1870 Census indicates he cared for a nine–year–old boy named Osceola.</p>