Preston County, West Virginia         Biography of JAMES J. TURNER

This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook,
E-mail address:  <vfcrook@earthlink.net>

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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 600-601


JAMES J. TURNER is a prosperous and enterprising farmer
in the Murphy's Creek neighborhood, three miles south-
west of Weston. He has given his time and capabilities to
the affairs of rural life for many years, and the honor and
esteem he enjoys in the county is well shown by the fact
that he is now a member of the County Court.

Mr. Turner was born on a farm on Sand Fork, Lewis
County, March 9, 1854, son of Jackson and Margaret
(Jarvis) Turner. Jackson Turner learned the trade of
brick player from his father, James Turner, but during
the Civil war he was engaged in farming near Edmiston,
where he died in 1863. His widow survived him until 1906.
They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
Jackson Turner was a republican. Their children were:

William H. was a soldier in the Union Army and
was killed in service. John E. enlisted in the Union Army
early in the war, was with his command until the end of
hostilities and is now living at Rosedale, West Virginia.
Mary Jane is the wife of H. L. Gaston. Lucy is the de-
ceased wife of Levi Lockard; who was a Civil war veteran.
Marcellus is a farmer at Edmiston.

James J. Turner grew up on a farm, attended country
schools and the Weston public schools, and since school days
his tasks and responsibilities have been almost entirely
concentrated in the agricultural vocation. On April 2, 1885,
he married Ida M. Langford, who was reared on the farm
where she lives today. Her father, Rev. H. Langford, was
a well known Baptist minister in this section of West Vir-
ginia. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Turner settled
on a farm on Polk Creek, where they remained over twenty
years. Selling their property in that vicinity they moved
in 1906 to Murphy's Creek, where Mr. Turner owns a
splendid farm of 140 acres. He and his family are mem-
bers of Murphy's Creek Baptist Church, of which he is a
trustee. He has always been a republican in politics, and
in 1918 was elected a member of the County Court and has
brought to the questions and problems presented to the
court the benefit of long experience and thorough knowledge
of conditions and affairs in Lewis County.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner have three children: Madge, wife
of D. Q. Lawson, living on a farm in the Murphy's Creek
community; Lois, at home; and James J., Jr., a senior in
the Weston High School.