Henry
McNeal Turner was born in South Carolina in 1834. Although born free
he was forced to work alongside field slaves
in the local cotton plantation. He learnt
to read and write and when he was a teenager he was recruited as an
itinerant minister for the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
In
1858 he was sent to Baltimore where
he studied Latin, Greek, Hebrew and theology at Trinity College. In
1860 he moved to Washington where
he became the pastor of Union Bethal Church. He became active in politics
and developed friendships with Benjamin Wade,
Thaddeus Stevens and Charles
Sumner. Turner became a national figure when Abraham
Lincoln appointed him the first black army chaplain.
After
the American Civil War Turner moved
to Georgia to work with the Freemen's Bureau.
Over the next few years he established the African
Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia. He worked tirelessly to
raise the political consciousness of former slaves. One resident of
Georgia claimed that he had never seen "a man travel so much,
preach and speak so much."
In
1867 Georgia was readmitted to the Union and in April 1868 he held
elections for governor and state legislators. Although dominated by
conservative whites, Turner and thirty-one other black men were elected.
Turner was disappointed by white members of the Republican
Party refused to support pro-black legislation. He accused the
whites of treachery and led a walk out of black legislators.
Turner
now retired from political life and returned full-time to his religious
duties. He was a great advocate of black pride: "I hold that
we are a very great people." He argued that blacks must reject
all teachings of the white church that confirmed their inferior status.
In sermons he often claimed that "God is a Negro".
In
1880 Turner was appointed as Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church. Married four times, Turner survived three wives and all but
two of his children. His final marriage at 73 to his secretary evoked
a storm of criticism and attempts were made to remove him from office.
Henry
McNeal Turner
died in 1915.
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