Husband Hon. Jacob Turney 1 2 3
Born: 18 Feb 1825 - Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA 2
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Father: Jacob Turney, Sr. (1788-1827) 1 2 3
Mother: Margaret Singer (1792-Aft 1882) 1 2 3
Marriage: 2 Feb 1854 4 5
Wife Mary Stuart Richardson 5
AKA: Mary Stewart Richardson 4
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Father: William H. Richardson ( - ) 4 5
Mother: Henrietta D. Hubley ( - ) 5 6
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1 M Barton R. Turney 4 5
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Died: Oct 1856 5
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Spouse: Did Not Marry
2 F Catharine Maude Turney 4 5
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Spouse: A. L. Kinkead, Esq. ( - ) 4 5
3 F Mary Stewart Turney 4 5
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4 M William R. Turney 4 5
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5 M Thomas C. Turney 4 5
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6 F Elizabeth F. Turney 4 5
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7 M Jacob M. Turney 4 5
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8 F Henrietta M. Turney 4 5 7 8
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Spouse: Charles C. Crowell (1866- ) 9 10
Marr: 4 Jan 1899 7 8
General Notes: Husband - Hon. Jacob Turney
He received his literary education in the common schools, and in Greensburg Academy. During the years of his minority, Mr. Turney, while attending school a portion of the year, devoted other portions to some business occupation, and among other things learned the printer's trade. After learning that trade he was appointed and served as deputy sheriff, and thereafter attended the academy, leaving which he engaged as clerk in the register's and recorder's office of Westmoreland County, and while so engaged commenced reading law under the direction of Hon. A. G. Marchand, at that time a man of great eminence in his profession. Mr. Marchand dying before Mr. Turney had completed his studies, he continued reading under Henry G. Marchand, and was admitted to the bar at May term, 1849, and entered upon the practice of his profession, at once securing to himself, through a large acquaintanceship made while in the recorder's office, and by his personal manners, which were popular, and in no measure calculated to antagonize others, a lucrative practice. In 1850 he was elected district attorney of Westmoreland County by a large majority over his competitor, being the first district attorney elected under the then new law. He was re-elected in 1853, and served till 1856. During his term of office the Pennsylvania Railroad was in process of construction, giving rise to an unusual amount of criminal business. Trials for murder were frequent, and Mr. Turney obtained prominence as a practitioner, especially by the long-contested trial of George Ward and Malcom Gibson, charged with the murder of Luncinda Sechrist, a case enumerated among the remarkable criminal trials of the land, and which resulted in their conviction of murder in the first degree. But on a new trial granted, the prisoners, after a protracted trial, were, to the astonishment of the community, who generally condemned the jury for their verdict, acquitted, whereupon they immediately left the region. The noted case of Hugh Corrigan, indicted for the murder of his wife, known as "Big Mary," convicted of murder in the first degree, and condemned to be hung, but who cheated justice by taking a dose of poison a few days before the appointed time of execution, will be long remembered as one of the remarkable trials conducted by Mr. Turney.
In 1855-56, Mr. Turney, being an earnest Democrat, took a prominent part against the Know-Nothing or American party, and stumped the county in opposition to that organization. In 1856 he was one of the Presidential electors who cast the vote of Pennsylvania for James Buchanan for President, and in 1857 was nominated, without solicitation on his part, for the State Senate, and was elected senator for the district composed of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties for the term of three years, served during the term, and at the close of the session of 1859 was elected president of the Senate.
During the Civil War Mr. Turney was known as a pronounced War-Democrat, and in 1871 he was prevailed upon to permit the use of his name in the hopelessly Republican district of Westmoreland and Indiana Counties as a candidate for the State Senate in opposition to Gen. Harry White, and was defeated by a reduced Republican majority.
In 1874 he became the Democratic candidate of the Twenty-first District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, and Greene, for Congress, and was elected representative to the Forty-fourth Congress, and in 1876 was elected to the Forty-fifth Congress. During his congressional career he served upon the Committees on Elections and Privileges, Mines, Mining, and Territories, and other committees with great credit to his constituents.
Leaving Congress, Mr. Turney returned to the practice of his profession. Though eminently successful in his official career and gratified by the confidence reposed in him by his constituents, Mr. Turney regarded it as a mistake for a professional man to even temporarily abandon his practice for public life. [HWC 1882, 343]
He attended the common schools and Greensburg academy, meanwhile devoting a portion of his time to learning the printer's trade. Later he served as deputy sheriff and was employed as clerk in the register and recorder's office; while thus engaged he became a student of law with Hon. A. G. Marchand, who died before Mr. Turney had finished his studies, in consequence of which the latter continued his legal studies under Henry C. Marchand, and was admitted to the bar in 1849, May term. In 1850 he was elected district attorney of Westmoreland county and re-elected in 1853, serving in all six years. Among the noted trials he conducted during this time was the case of Hugh Corrigan, who was convicted of murder in the first degree and condemned to the gallows for the murder of "Big Mary," his wife, but who committed suicide before the day of execution arrived. When the know-nothing movement swept over the county in 1855-56, Mr. Turney, a stanch democrat, was vigorous in his opposition to it, and mounting the rostrum, raised his voice in denunciation of its principles. In the Buchanan campaign he was one of the Presidential electors, and in 1857 was elected State Senator for the district composed of Westmoreland and Fayette counties. In 1871 he was prevailed upon to accept the complimentary nomination for State senate in the hopelessly republican district of Westmoreland and Indiana counties, his opponent being Hon. Harry White, who was elected by a reduced majority. In 1874 Mr. Turney was elected to the forty-fourth Congress from the twenty-first district, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene, and two years later was re-elected, becoming a member of the forty-fifth Congress. While a member of the House of Representatives he served on the committees on mines, mining, territories, elections and privileges, and various others, and acquitted himself with credit. After leaving the halls of national legislation, Mr. Turney engaged in the practice of his profession in which he had achieved such a wide and enviable reputation. [BHCWC, 171]