Peter Turney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Turney
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Portrait of Turney by Lloyd Branson
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| 26th Governor of Tennessee | |
| In office January 16, 1893 – January 21, 1897 |
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| Preceded by | John P. Buchanan |
| Succeeded by | Robert Love Taylor |
| Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court |
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| In office 1886–1893 |
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| Preceded by | James W. Deaderick |
| Succeeded by | Horace H. Lurton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 27, 1827 Jasper, Tennessee |
| Died | October 28, 1903 (aged 76) Winchester, Tennessee |
| Resting place | Winchester City Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | Cassandra Garner (1851–1857, her death) Hannah Graham (m. 1858) |
| Relations | Hopkins L. Turney (father) |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America |
| Branch/service |  Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Commands |  1st Tennessee Infantry (Provisional) |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War • Bull Run (1861) • Shenandoah Campaign (1862) • Seven Days (1862) • Peninsula Campaign (1862) • Fredericksburg (1862) |
Peter Turney (born September 22, 1827 – died October 19, 1903) was an important American leader. He was a soldier, a judge, and the Governor of Tennessee from 1893 to 1897. Before becoming governor, he served as a judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court for many years. He was even the court's Chief Justice from 1886 to 1893. During the American Civil War, Turney was a colonel leading the First Tennessee Regiment, which was one of the first groups from Tennessee to join the Confederate Army.
As governor, Peter Turney made big changes to the state's prison system. He stopped the controversial system where the state rented out prisoners for labor, known as the convict lease system. He also brought in other reforms to improve prisons. His second term as governor faced some challenges. He won the 1894 election only after the state's legislature, which was controlled by his Democratic party, decided to throw out many votes for his opponent, Henry Clay Evans.
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Early Life and Career
Peter Turney was born in Jasper, Tennessee. His father, Hopkins L. Turney, was a well-known politician who became a United States Senator. Soon after Peter was born, his family moved to Winchester, Tennessee. Peter went to public schools in Franklin County and a private school in Nashville. He studied law by reading books and working with his father and another judge. In 1848, he became a lawyer and started his own practice in Winchester.
Turney strongly supported the Southern states' rights. In the 1860 presidential election, he campaigned for John C. Breckinridge. After Abraham Lincoln won, Turney believed Tennessee should leave the United States right away. In February 1861, he ran as a candidate who wanted Tennessee to secede (leave the Union). However, voters decided to stay with the Union at that time. Turney then tried to get Franklin County to leave Tennessee and join Alabama instead.
After the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, many people in Tennessee started to support leaving the Union. Turney quickly gathered a group of soldiers to form the First Tennessee Infantry. This unit was sometimes called "Turney's First." Even though Tennessee had not officially seceded yet, Turney worked in secret. In early May, Tennessee officially joined the Confederacy.
Turney's unit arrived in Virginia on May 8. They became part of the Army of Northern Virginia. In July 1861, they fought in the First Battle of Bull Run. For the next few months, they patrolled the Potomac River area. In 1862, his unit was involved in several major battles, including the Shenandoah Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, and the Peninsula Campaign. At the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, Turney was shot in the mouth. He was badly hurt and never returned to active fighting. While he was recovering, his unit fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. Turney was later given a different job in Florida in 1864, where he stayed until the war ended.
Serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court
After Tennessee created its new constitution in 1870, Peter Turney was elected to the Tennessee Supreme Court. He was reelected in 1878 and again in 1886. After his last election, he became the Chief Justice of the court. He served on the court for 23 years.
In October 1891, the court, led by Turney, made decisions on two important cases. These cases were about a labor conflict in Anderson County, Tennessee, called the Coal Creek War. This conflict happened because the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) tried to use prisoners rented from the state to replace striking miners. The miners fought back by taking over the company's prison camps and freeing the prisoners. Governor John P. Buchanan sent the state guard to the area. He tried to make peace with the miners while the state thought about ending the convict lease system.
In one case, State v. Jenkins, the state sued the TCMC president for threatening to close a mine. The company wanted miners to fire their checkweighman, who weighed the coal to make sure miners were paid fairly. The state said this went against a law that allowed miners to have their own checkweighman. Turney ruled against the state. He said that while the law stopped owners from directly firing checkweighmen, it didn't stop them from closing mines if miners didn't agree to their demands.
In the second case, State v. Jack, a prisoner named William Warren, with help from the striking miners, tried to get out of prison. He argued that the company holding him was breaking its contract with the state by renting prisoners to another company. A lower court agreed with Warren and said he should go back to state control. However, Turney overturned this decision. He said the company's prison camp was like a "branch prison" of the state. He also said that a prisoner in a state prison could not ask to be released this way.
Governor of Tennessee
In 1892, Peter Turney wanted to become the Democratic Party's candidate for governor. He hoped to replace the current governor, John P. Buchanan. Turney quickly got support from parts of his party that favored business. They were unhappy with how Governor Buchanan handled the Coal Creek War. Buchanan decided not to run for his party's nomination and instead ran as an independent. Turney easily won the Democratic nomination. In the main election, Turney was elected governor. He received 127,247 votes. The Republican candidate, George Winstead, got 100,629 votes. Buchanan received 31,515 votes, and the Prohibition candidate, Edward H. East, got 5,427 votes.
Even though Turney had made decisions that supported the convict lease system as a judge, as governor, he quickly signed a law in April 1893 that ended this practice. This new law said the state would build its own prison and buy land for farming and coal mining. Prisoners would work on this land. This helped the state pay for prisons and also stopped prisoner labor from competing with free workers.
While Turney solved the convict lease problem, the Democratic Party faced criticism for not handling the Panic of 1893 very well. This was a time when the economy was struggling. In the 1894 governor's race, the Republicans chose Henry Clay Evans as their candidate. Evans was a former congressman. Turney tried to make Evans seem like an outsider. However, Evans ran a strong campaign. The first count of votes on election day showed that Evans had won with 105,104 votes. Turney had 104,356 votes, and the Populist candidate, A.J. Mims, had 23,088 votes.
However, the state legislature, which was controlled by the Democrats, said that there had been problems with the voting. They decided to remove over 23,000 votes. This allowed Turney to win the election by about 2,000 votes.
Turney's reputation suffered after the controversial 1894 election. During his second term, he started planning the state's 100-year anniversary celebrations. But his efforts were not enough, and the celebrations were delayed until the summer of 1897, after he had left office.
Later Life and Legacy
Peter Turney did not try to be reelected in 1896. He also did not seek any other public office after that. He passed away in Winchester, Tennessee, in 1903. He was buried in the Winchester City Cemetery.
The state prison that was approved during Turney's time as governor was the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. It operated from 1896 to 2009. The land bought for the prison, including coal mines and farms, is now part of Frozen Head State Park. To honor Turney's work in prison reform, the Turney Center for Youthful Offenders (now called the Turney Center Industrial Complex) was named after him. This center opened in 1971 in Hickman County.
Peter Turney's brother, Joe, used his political connections to make money from managing a chain gang. This inspired a famous blues song called "Joe Turner." That song then inspired August Wilson's play, Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Family Life
Peter Turney married his first wife, Cassandra Garner, in 1851. They had three children together. After Cassandra passed away in 1857, he married Hannah Graham in 1858. They had nine children.
