Oscar Turner (October 19, 1867 – July 17, 1902) was an American attorney and politician from Kentucky. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1901.
Oscar Turner | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kentucky Irish American (Louisville, KY), October 1, 1898 | |
| Member of the United States House of Representatives from the 5th District of Kentucky | |
| In office March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1901 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Evans |
| Succeeded by | Harvey S. Irwin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 19, 1867 Woodville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 1902 (aged 34) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cave Hill Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Mary Jane Caldwell (m. 1901) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Caroline (Gardner) Turner Oscar Turner |
| Relatives | Winthrop Sargent (great-grandfather) Edward Turner (grand-uncle) Ben F. Caldwell (father in law) |
| Education | University of Louisville (attended) University of Virginia School of Law (LL.B., 1886) |
| Profession |
|
Biography
editOscar Turner was born at Woodlands, his father's farm near Woodville, Kentucky, on October 19, 1867.[1] He was the son of Caroline (Gardner) Turner and Oscar Turner, who served in Congress from 1879 to 1885.[1][2] Turner's great-grandfather was Winthrop Sargent, who served as governor of Mississippi Territory.[2] Edward Turner, who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, was his grand-uncle.[2]
Turner attended the public schools of Ballard County and Washington, D.C., as well as the Louisville Rugby School in Louisville, Kentucky.[1] He studied law at the University of Louisville, then at the University of Virginia School of Law, from which he graduated in 1886.[1][3][4] Having graduated at nineteen, Turner did not meet the minimum age required to practice law (twenty-one), so he furthered his education with extensive travel before attaining admission to the bar in 1891 and beginning to practice in Louisville.[1][3] In addition to practicing law, Turner was active in several business ventures, to include mines in Mexico, a Dallas, Texas, book publishing firm, and real estate including farms and timberland.[1]
A Democrat, in 1898, Turner was elected to the United States House of Representatives.[1] He served in the Fifty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901).[1] He declined to run for a second term in 1900 and resumed the practice of law in 1901.[1]
In July 1902, Turner became ill while on board a train near Dallas, where he was traveling for business.[1] Turner was hospitalized at St. Paul Sanitarium in Dallas, but refused heart surgery and asked to be taken home.[1] He traveled to Louisville by train but did not recover.[1] Turner died at "Melrose", his home in the Crescent Hill section of Louisville, on July 17, 1902.[1] He was interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.[1]
Family
editIn 1901, Turner married Mary Jane Caldwell, the daughter of Ben F. Caldwell.[1] They were the parents of a son, also named Oscar Turner, who was born on May 3, 1902, and died on June 13, 1975.[1] In 1909, Turner's widow married William Norman Cottrell (1870–1916), a Chicago attorney and judge.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Heart Fails and Death Comes to the Hon. Oscar Turner". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. July 18, 1902. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Headley, Phineas Camp (1882). Public Men of To-day. Hartford, CT: S. S. Scranton & Company. pp. 608–609 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b A Biographical Congressional Directory, 1774-1903. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1903. p. 850 – via Google Books.
- ^ Stone, Ormond, ed. (February 1900). "University of Virginia Men in Congress". The Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia. pp. 113–114 – via Google Books.
- ^ Batchelder, Samuel Francis (1918). Secretary's Sixth Annual Report, Harvard College Class of 1803. Cambridge, MA: Crimson Printing Company. pp. 74–75 – via Google Books.
External links
edit- United States Congress. "Oscar Turner (id: T000426)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Oscar Turner at Find a Grave