T. M. Turner
Born
Thomas Memory Turner

(1847-07-17)July 17, 1847
Middletown, Virginia, US
DiedSeptember 2, 1917(1917-09-02) (aged 70)
Norfolk, Virginia, US
OccupationMusic professor
Spouses
  • Kate Grimes
  • Nannie Wyatt
  • Mary Goddard
ChildrenSusan Dorsey Turner
Claude Eugene Turner
Charles Augustus Turner
Marcus Richardson Turner
Cora Turner
T. M. Turner
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Service/branch Confederate States Army
Years of service1862–1865
RankMusician
UnitCompany Band, 5th Virginia Infantry
Company Band, 14th Virginia Cavalry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Thomas Memory Turner (July 17, 1847 – September 2, 1917)[1] was an American composer, band leader, and music professor. He was known to his friends as "Mem".[2]

He was once assistant director of the Stonewall Brigade Band of Staunton, Virginia, the United States's oldest continuous community band sponsored by local government and funded, in part, by tax monies. His father A. J. Turner was director. Memory trained several cornet bands, and spent several years directing the band at the Western Lunatic Asylum.

Early years in Staunton

Thomas Memory Turner was born on July 17, 1847, in Middletown, Virginia to A. J. Turner and Kate Aby, and moved to Staunton with them in the mid to late 1850s.

Civil War

Turner served in the Confederacy for much of the American Civil War. His father A. J. was a band leader in the Stonewall Brigade Band in the Stonewall Brigade. Thomas Memory was a musician alongside his father in the 5th Virginia Infantry from April 1 to August 22, 1862, playing the B♭ cornet.[3] He was later in the 14th Virginia Cavalry band, enlisting at Brandy Station on August 1, 1863.[4] He was taken prisoner and paroled on April 30, 1865, in Winchester, at the age of 17.[4]

Stonewall Brigade Band

The Stonewall Brigade Band was reorganized in 1869 with Turner as assistant leader and his father as leader.[5]

First marriage

Turner married Kate Grimes of Maryland, daughter of Dr. Gassaway Sellman Grimes, on February 28, 1872, in Warren County, Virginia. They were married by Rev. Amasa Converse, the man who married Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe.[6] A daughter, Susan Dorsey Turner, was born there in 1874. Turner instructed the Charlestown Cornet Band in 1874 and 1875.[7]

Lewisburg

Turner lived in Lewisburg, West Virginia from 1876 until November 1879.[8] A son, Charles Augustus Turner, was born there. Turner directed the Lewisburg Concert Band. His sister Cora would sing for them.[9] He also was a jeweler and watchmaker.[10]

Return to Staunton

Turner returns to Staunton in November 1879, and lived on 12 Madison Street. He continued to play in the Stonewall Brigade Band.[11] He directed the "Stonewall Octette", a group of singers attached to the band.[12]

At a rally for Hancock and English just before the election of 1880, Turner composed "Hancock's Grand March".[13] After the assassination of President Garfield, Turner also composed a dirge, "Garfield's Funeral March".[14]

Watchmaker

Turner ran a jewelry store in Olivier's Bookstore on 102 E. Beverley Street (also known as Main Street) now a part of the historic district. Turner fixed watches and jewelry as well as offered his services tuning instruments.[15][16][17] He continued to tune pianos for most of his life.[18][lower-alpha 1]

Return to Lewisburg

Turner again instructs a band in Lewisburg in 1884, and is living there by 1889, living at Alderson and Hinton in between. His wife Kate dies in Alderson on October 14, 1888. His son Claude died in Lewisburg, on September 5, 1889, at the age of just 14, falling headforemost into a vat of boiling water at the Greenbrier Cannery.[20] Both Kate and Claude are buried at the Old Stone Church.

Second Return to Staunton

After the death of his wife and son, Turner again returned to Staunton, and lived at 213 W. Beverley St.[8]

Western Lunatic Asylum

He became director of the Blackford Cornet Band of the Western Lunatic Asylum, a ten or eleven piece band composed of the male attendants.[21][22] He was paid $6 a week and an extra $3 if he tuned the pianos.[23]

One account reads "The music of the Hospital Band sets aside solitude and relieves the monotony of asylum life, and has a wonderful effects in quieting the noisy and disturbed patients, besides being a source of great pleasure and enjoyment to the more quiet class, and is greatly enjoyed by visitors to the institution."[24]

Second marriage

On February 15, 1893, he married Virginia Ann "Nannie" Wyatt in Harrisonburg, Virginia, at the residence of Hubert or Herbert Coffman. They were married by C. R. Cruikshank.[25] She died March 9, 1894, in Staunton.[26]

Maryland

From 1896 to 1897 Turner was in Baltimore and Gaithersburg. In Gaithersburg, he taught a band,[27][28] and attended a reunion of the Central Brass Band, which he had instructed.[29]

Norfolk

Turner settled in Norfolk late in life, where he taught music. He died there September 2, 1917.

Notes

  1. ↑ A square piano showing markings indicating it was tuned by Turner belongs to the National Music Museum of Vermillion, South Dakota.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
  2. ↑ "Mem Turner Here". Staunton Daily Leader. September 8, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved January 22, 2018. Open access icon
  3. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations, compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865; Catalog ID: 586957; Record Group #: 109; Roll #: 429
  4. 1 2 "Soldiers Records".
  5. ↑ "Reorganized". Republican Vindicator. November 19, 1869.
  6. ↑ "Married". Staunton Spectator. March 5, 1872.
  7. ↑ "Serenade". Spirit of Jefferson. October 20, 1874. p. 3. Retrieved January 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. 1 2 "Personals". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 57, no. 9. November 18, 1879.
  9. ↑ "Personal". Staunton Spectator. July 23, 1878. p. 3. Retrieved January 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ↑ "Monroe County, West Virginia - Monroe/Border Watchman Surname Index,October - December 1877".
  11. ↑ "The Stonewall Brigade Band". The daily dispatch. October 27, 1881.
  12. ↑ "Staunton". The daily dispatch. February 14, 1880.
  13. ↑ "Hancock and English Pole". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 57, no. 42. July 6, 1880.
  14. ↑ "[No title]". The Valley Virginian. September 22, 1881. p. 3. Retrieved January 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ↑ "[No title]". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 57, no. 42. July 6, 1880.
  16. ↑ "Card!". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 58, no. 46. August 2, 1881.
  17. ↑ "Watches and Jewelry". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 57, no. 32. April 27, 1880.
  18. ↑ "Special Notices". Norfolk Landmark. July 14, 1900.
  19. ↑ Square piano
  20. ↑ "News of the Day". Alexandria Gazette. September 7, 1889.
  21. ↑ Brice 1967, p. 181
  22. ↑ "Report of the Superintendent of the Western Lunatic Asylum". Staunton Spectator. Vol. 69, no. 17. December 16, 1891.
  23. ↑ Virginia (1891). Annual Reports of Officers, Boards and Institutions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. p. 61.
  24. ↑ Virginia (1892). Annual Reports of Officers, Boards and Institutions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. p. 13.
  25. ↑ "Professor Turner Weds Mrs. Nance". Richmond dispatch. February 17, 1893.
  26. ↑ "Virginia News". Alexandria Gazette. March 10, 1894.
  27. ↑ "Death of Mrs. Turner". Staunton spectator and vindicator. December 30, 1896.
  28. ↑ "Personal". Staunton spectator and vindicator. March 4, 1897.
  29. ↑ "Gaithersburg". Evening Star. January 12, 1897. p. 13. Retrieved January 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

Bibliography

  • Brice, Marshall Moore (1967). The Stonewall Brigade Band.
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