Charles W. Turner (attorney)

Charles William Turner (June 8, 1846 – January 7, 1907) was a lawyer in Seattle and Montana, once Adjutant General of Montana. As a youth during the American Civil War, he was a courier for Stonewall Jackson. Subsequently, he was one of the VMI cadets who fought at the Battle of New Market. Turner was shot to death in a Seattle bar by an assassin who was after one of Turner's clients.

Early years
Charles William Turner was born on June 6, 1846 in Stephens City, Virginia, then known as Newtown, to A. J. Turner and Kate Aby. Charles sometimes signed his name Charles William H. Turner, perhaps due to his great-grandfather, Charles W. Hulett, who was a drummer in the Revolutionary War. By the late 1850s his parents moved to Staunton.

Civil War
Turner gave his services to the Confederacy for the duration of the American Civil War. By the end of the war Turner was commissioned a lieutenant.

Stonewall Brigade
Turner enlisted on June 9, 1861 in Shepherdstown, Maryland, and was mustered into the 5th Virginia Infantry, Company L, known as the "West Augusta Guards," part of the Stonewall Brigade. Turner ran mail as a courier under Stonewall Jackson. His father A. J. was a band leader for the 5th Infantry.

VMI
Turner enrolled at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on April 15, 1864. He graduated from VMI in 1867. Edward Magruder Tutwiler was a member of the same class.

Battle of New Market
Soon after he enrolled, Turner was one of the cadets who participated in the Battle of New Market, as a private in Co. C. Major General John C. Breckinridge reluctantly ordered the charge of the young cadets to fill a gap in his right wing, leading to the cadets taking part in a Confederate victory. The cadet battalion even captured a Yankee cannon. Turner was listed as "slightly wounded" as was John Sergeant Wise of Co. D. Years later, another cadet in Turner's company wrote an account of the events preceding the charge.

Post war
After the war, Turner engaged in mercantile pursuits in his native Staunton as well as Baltimore. While in Baltimore he worked for the firm of Chaney, Randall, and Co. In Staunton he was a merchandise auctioneer with partner W. M. Chewning. There Turner was also a member of the "Philomathesian Society" (cf. the Philomathean Society).

Montana
Near the end of 1869, he moved to Montana and was admitted to the bar to practice law. He was in Meagher County by 1870.

Mining
Turner became interested in mining pursuits due to gold discoveries, and moved to Bannack around 1875. While there a major washout of his flume resulting in a loss of two years' earnings caused him to return to his law practice.

Glendale
Turner then moved to Glendale. While there, Turner was chairman of the Democratic ratification meeting. A band leading the procession played a medley in front of Turner's "brilliantly lighted residence."

Marriage
On September 11, 1879, Turner married Emma Armstrong, daughter of Noah Armstrong, in Glendale. She bore his first son, Armstrong Memory Turner, in Glendale on July 25, 1880.

Helena
Turner lived in Glendale until about 1886 when he sold his mining interests and moved to Helena, where he was an active member of the Knights Templar. The meeting of the stockholders of the Bowling Mining Company met at Turner's house. Another son, Charles Jr., was born on April 20, 1889 in Helena.

Adjutant General
Turner was appointed Adjutant General of Montana by Governor Preston Leslie in February 1887. Due to this the title "General" often precedes Turner's name. He was the first to hold the office since Martin Beem in 1867. The state militia was formed after much action from volunteer companies against Indians. Turner said of the organization: "They are uniformed at individual expense and maintain armories in which they keep their arms and company property and meet for drill, the expense of which is defrayed, in part at least, from the annual appropriation made by the legislature to each company. The infantry and cavalry companies are armed, respectively, with rifles and carbines of the patterns now issued in the army, but some of the infantry companies have neither cartridges boxes nor belts of such patterns and the cavalry are without accoutrements, sabres, pistols, saddles, or bridles except such sabres as they have procured at individual expense . . ."

Seattle
Not long after the Great Seattle Fire, Turner moved to Seattle, Washington. Turner practiced law with James Bard Metcalfe, the first Attorney General of the state, and Andrew F. Burleigh, whom he partnered with in Helena. Metcalfe and Turner remained law partners until January 1892. Turner then was part of the law firm of Turner & McCutcheon until the partnership dissolved on January 27, 1894. He then practiced independently, living for many years at the corner of 9th Avenue and Alder St.

Assassination
On January 7, 1907, Turner was shot to death by one T. W. Emmons in the saloon of Russell & Mix at 1206 First Avenue for alleged wrongs between Emmons and Turner's client Andy T. Russell.

Russell was one of the owners of the saloon. Emmons had invested his only money upon arriving in Seattle in a cigar shop in front of the saloon, and had received notice to vacate the street. Russell was shot in the left shoulder. Turner was shot in the liver and the spine. Upon being struck, Turner ran to the front door and had nearly reached it when he collapsed and died. Russell ran into a nearby hotel before realizing he too was shot. The assassin Emmons then looked at himself in a large mirror and shot himself in the right temple. He left a note for the coroner explaining his motives. It seems Russell was the target of the attack, though the letter makes some reference to "Russell's pussy-cat lawyer."

Funeral
Turner was buried on January 10 in Seattle's Lake View Cemetery. The services were under the auspices of Seattle Commandery No. 2, Knights Templars, of which he was a member. The funeral was largely attended and the casket containing the remains was banked with floral offerings. The following sir knights acted as pallbearer s: J. M. Palmer, J. C. Peterson, E. W. Craven, W. V. Rinehart, R. C. Hassen and H. A. Raser. The honorary pallbearers were: J. T. Ronald, J. B. Jurey, Andrew Hemrich, J. F. Hale, S. S. Carlisle, P. P. Carroll, ex-Judge Alfred.