Turner family papers (RLC.Ms.573)

Biographical note

Dr. William Turner (1712-1754), originally from Newport, Rhode Island, married Mehitable Foster (b. 1715) and the couple had four children: Lydia (b. 1746), William (1748-1755), Daniel (1751-1837), and Peter (1751-1822). Dr. Turner attended Harvard and worked as a physician and surgeon in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Turner’s youngest son, Peter Turner (1751-1822), was born on September 2, 1751, in New Jersey. Peter Turner graduated from Princeton and served as a surgeon in the Continental Army from 1776-1781. He married Eliza Child (1752-1819) on March 21, 1776, and they had nine children including Mehitable Foster (1780-1853). After the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Peter Turner and his family moved to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, where he ran a successful surgical practice until his death on February 14, 1822.

Captain Daniel Turner (1750-1837), the second eldest son of Dr. William Turner (1712-1754), married Sarah Foster (1754-1809) with whom he had ten children. One of their sons was William Turner (1775-1837), born on September 10, 1775, in Perth Ambroy, New Jersey. William Turner (1775-1837) began to practice medicine at the age of nineteen after graduating from Princeton. He married his first cousin Mehitable Foster (1780-1853), the daughter of Peter Turner (1751-1822). William and Mehitable had nine children including Peter Turner (1803-1871) and moved to Newport, Rhode Island, sometime before 1824. Dr. William Turner (1775-1837) also served as an assistant surgeon in the United States Army and on at least one occasion served as a Special Judge Advocate for a general court martial held at Fort Wolcott. He died on September 26, 1837, in Newport.

Peter Turner (1803-1871), the son of William (1775-1837) and Mehitable Turner had a successful career in the United States Navy rising the ranks from Midshipman to Commodore throughout his forty-eight years of service. He was named Commodore in 1862 and was stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, where he remained until his death in 1871. Peter Turner married Sarah Stafford Jones (1826-1875) and they had five children.