The Misses Turner Revisited
- ahsvolunteer20
- May 16, 2017
- 4 min read
We reported in an earlier blog post the story of Harriet M. Turner and Estelle B. (Turner) Davis, sisters who collected songs in the South and played them for northern and European audiences, enjoying a brief period of fame. We recently came upon a piece of their sheet music entitled Rain that is owned by the Society. It was published by H. M. Turner, 113 Pinckney Street, Boston and has the Misses Turner's photo on the front. Newspapers seem to have used this picture (or nearly identical ones) as well; Estelle's marriage announcement in the Boston Globe in 1916 and an article about Harriet in the Boston Post in 1919 both used close-ups that allow us to confirm that Estelle was on the left and Harriet was on the right:
The Society may also have other Turner family photos. Opening a long-unused drawer in the Hosmer House revealed a small stack of photographs, among them this one from Columbus, Georgia, where Harriet and Estelle Turner grew up. We believe the photos may have come from the house of Estelle (Turner) Davis who lived in East Acton in her later years.
Could this young man be a relative of the Turner sisters, possibly a brother? The photographer was Alpha A. Williams. We are trying to narrow down the dates. Based upon the address given on the back of the photo, this photo must have been taken sometime after 1879 at which time A. A. Williams had a studio at 59 Broad St. An 1886 map of Columbus showed his studio at the corner of Broad and 12th streets but did not show his exact address. In 1906, he was listed in the Columbus directory as working at 1151 1/2 Broad.
Are the other portraits of relatives? If you can help us to identify them, we would love to figure out who they are.
Turner Family Background
Parents of the Turner Sisters:
Alonzo Turner (born 1827 in NY, carpenter, lived in Columbus, Georgia by 1850, died 1904,
buried in Linwood Cemetery, Columbus, GA)
and
Sarah E. Yarborough (born about 1838, birthplace given variously but probably Georgia,
apparently was living with another family in Columbus, Georgia in 1850, married Alonzo Turner in Russell County, Alabama in 1856, had at least 7 children, was still in Columbus, Georgia with Alonzo in 1880, was living with daughters in New York City in 1900, death date and place unknown)
Children:
• Clara A. Turner, born May 7, 1858 in Georgia, married James F. Marcrum Sept. 7, 1880,
had at least 2 children, was widowed in 1885, ran a boarding house in New York City in
1900 (where her mother and sisters were living), died in 1905 and was buried in Linwood
Cemetery, Columbus, Georgia.
• Alonzo Turner, born c. 1859 in Georgia, apparently died before 1870.
• John Turner, born c. 1862 in Georgia, was a carpenter in 1880, was an inmate in a
Washington, DC psychiatric hospital in 1900, died in probably the same hospital in 1927
and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton.
• Harriet Mercedes Turner, born c. 1864 in Georgia, lived with sister Clara in New York
City in 1900, lived in Bedford, MA in 1910, was a singer and, as part of a “Southern” act
with her sister Estelle, performed in Europe and the United States, went solo after
Estelle’s marriage. She eventually hit hard times. Lived with her sister Estelle in Acton
in the years before her death in Concord, MA on Feb. 23, 1938. Buried in Woodlawn
Cemetery, Acton.
• Leola Turner, born c. 1867 in Georgia, apparently died before 1880.
• Walter Turner, born May 27, 1873 in Columbus, GA. Served in the army in the Spanish
American War, enlisting in Binghamton, NY, although his residence at the time may
have been Washington, DC. At some point he moved out to San Francisco and then to
Chicago in 1916. Married Mary A. ___, no children. Died Chicago, Illinois on Nov. 5,
1916. Buried Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago.
• Estelle Bushnell Turner, born c. 1875 in Columbus, GA where she grew up, lived in New
York in 1900 with sister Clara, lived in 1910 in Bedford, MA with sister Harriet. After
her singing career, she married Charles Edmund Davis (born March 22, 1886 in Acton to
Charles L. and Lucy C. (Reed) Davis) in Belmont, Nov. 1, 1916 and moved to Acton
where the couple lived for many years. Estelle had a stillborn son on July 8,
1917. Charles worked as a farmer and a real estate broker. Charles died in February,
1958 in Valdosta, GA, and Estelle died there on April 24, 1961. Both were buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, in a lot with their baby and with Estelle’s siblings Harriet
and John.
