|
North Carolina's Governors
James Turner (1766-1824) was a friend and ally of United States Senator Nathaniel Macon. Little is known of his early youth or education, but during the Revolution he saw service as a private in the army of General Nathanael Greene. Serving in the same company as Macon, they formed a lasting and formative friendship. Entering upon a career in politics, Turner represented Warren County in the House of Commons and the Senate. In 1802, the legislature elected John Baptista Ashe governor. Ashe, however, died less than a week later prior to taking office. In a second election, Turner was selected in his place to his first term as governor. Reelected to office on two subsequent occasions, he served the constitutional maximum of three consecutive years. Turner's tenure came during a period of clear Republican. Fiscal conservatism and distrust of innovation were such prominent features of the political landscape that few accomplishments could reasonably be expected from his administration. Each of his three principal messages to the General Assembly spoke generally of the need for public education in the state, but specified no concrete steps through which such a goal could be achieved. Other areas of concern included the lingering border dispute with Georgia and the need for reform of the state's judicial system. It was during his governorship that the state's first banks were chartered in New Bern and Wilmington. In November 1805 Turner resigned the governorship to accept his election to the United States Senate. There he remained for the next eleven years, generally associating himself with the conservative Republican politics of his mentor, Macon. Turner, however, achieved no distinction or prominence during his years in the Senate, his energies often depleted by poor health. Prevented by illness from returning to Washington in the fall of 1816, Turner submitted his resignation. Largely withdrawing from public life, Turner passed his remaining years quietly at his Warren County plantation. There he was interred on the grounds.
|
