The Turner Family

A depiction of the Turner Family cabin in the Smokies.

NPS Artwork by Meliya Evans

Background Information

In 2018, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSMNP) started the African American Experiences in the Smokies (AAES) project. This project focuses on the experiences and stories of African Americans in the Smokies and surrounding areas to bring visibility to a historically overlooked population.

One name known to some in the Smokies is George Turner, an African American man who was born in Sevier County, TN. In the 1960s, Great Smoky Mountains National Park purchased his land. Remains of his home still exist in the park today in Wears Valley near the Tremont Institute.

Margaret J. “Sook” Turner

Margaret Jane Turner, also commonly known by her nickname “Sook” Turner in the Smokies, was a resident of Sevier County, TN in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. She was a Black woman who has also been listed as “mulatto” in some census records.¹ According to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, Turner was a formerly enslaved woman. While this is a common narrative in the Smokies, the AAE project has not yet found any primary documents that support this. Because there are inconsistencies concerning Turner’s racial background, birth year, marital relationship(s), and even her name in historical documents, there is a lot that we do not know about her. However, by connecting some of the dots and tracing the consistencies that do exist, we have been able to learn more about her and speculate some details about her life. The two pieces of information that have remained consistent in the documents is that Turner was born in South Carolina and that she was the mother of six sons: John Turner, Christopher Turner, James Turner, George Turner, Logan Turner, and Major Turner.

¹ Mulatto was a term that was used to racially classify individuals of African and European parentage or ancestry. This is an outdated term that is considered offensive today, it should not be used outside of a historical context.

1880 Census Record, Wears Valley, Sevier County, TN
The earliest documentation that the AAES has found of Turner’s life is the 1880 census record of Wears Valley, Sevier County, TN. Her name is spelled as “Margarett Turnner” on this document and she is listed as the wife of Geo. W. Turnner. ² According to this document, Geo. Turnner was a white man who was born around the year 1827 and Margarrett was a Black woman who was born around the year 1845. He is listed as 53 years old with the occupation of a farmer and she is listed as 35 years old with the occupation of “keeping house”. Both were born in South Carolina.

At this time, the couple had four sons who are each marked as mulatto. The oldest two were John Turner who was 17 years old and Christopher Turner who was 15 years old. The record states that both sons were born in North Carolina and worked as farm laborers in 1880. Their youngest sons were James L. Turner who was nine years old, and George Turner who was one year old. According to the document, both James and George were born in Tennessee. While he is not commonly referred to as a junior in the Smokies, Margaret Turner’s son George will be referred to as George Turner Jr. throughout this article so that he is not confused with her husband, Geo. W. Turner.

² Geo. is short for George.

1900 Census Record, Sevier County, TN
The Turner family is listed again on Sevier County’s census record of 1900. However, there are many details that do not align with the information that was recorded two decades prior. Unlike the 1880 census, this document also tells us how long the Turners had been married at the time, the month and the year that everyone was born, and it also states that this was a Black family. This is where inconsistencies come into play concerning the Turner family’s story. George Turner is listed as a Black farmer who was born in August of 1822, which made him 77 years old at the time that the census was recorded. This contrasts the previous census discussed which listed him as a white male and the age that was listed would have made his birth year 1927.

Further complicating things, this record also lists his wife as a Black woman named Susen Turner, not Margaret or Margarrett. Perhaps the name Susen is connected to the nickname “Sook”. She is listed 57 years old and born in August of 1842 – this birth year is three years earlier than what the 1880 census indicates about Margarrett Turnner. There is no occupation listed for her. South Carolina is listed again in this document as the birthplace of both Turner spouses, and states that they had been married for 40 years and were the parents of six children.

Of their six children, John and George Turner were the only two living with the couple at the time. According to the document, John Turner was born in March of 1862 and was 38 years old at the time that the census was recorded. George Turner was born in March of 1879 and was 21 years old in 1900. Each of these birth years align with the information that the 1880 census tells us. However, this census states that both John and George were born in Tennessee, and the 1880 census states that John was born in North Carolina. Both sons are listed as Black.

1910 Census Record, Sevier County, TN
By 1910, Margaret J. Turner is listed as a widowed mulatto woman who was head of her household. According to the document, she worked as a farmer and owned her own land and used it for farming purposes. The document lists her age as 79 years old which would have made her birth year approximately 1831. Of course, this differs from the birth years that the previously discussed census records indicate. Of her six children, only one was living which was George Turner Jr. who is also listed in this census record as head of his own household. Two of Margaret’s grandsons were living with her at the time, James and Columbus Turner. They are also marked as mulatto. John was 18 years old at the time and worked at a local logging camp. Columbus was 13 years old.

Analyzing the Gaps

The inconsistencies in Turner’s age and birth year can support the narrative that Sook Turner was formerly enslaved, as many enslaved and formerly enslaved people did not know their exact birth dates. Additionally, each of the census records state that she was unable to read and write. It was extremely common for those who were formerly enslaved to be unable to read and write because it was illegal for them to learn while enslaved. However, many people, including white people, in and around the Smokies, as well as other rural areas in the United States, were unable to read and write. This had much to do with finances and lack of access to education. It was common for people in rural areas to begin working at a very young age which would not have allowed them the time to go to school.

As far as the inconsistencies in race and age in the census records discussed previously, there are two possible explanations. Firstly, census enumerators typically recorded age and race based off of what they believed they saw. It was not uncommon for the person collecting census data to make a guess at one’s age or race. This provides an explanation to the inconsistencies in name spelling over the decades, as the census enumerator likely guessed at the spellings after hearing the name. Secondly, there is a possibility that George Turner Sr. may have been passing as a white man at one point, possibly to purchase land in the Smokies or find employment. The fact that his race was recorded as white at one point tells us that he had light skin that could pass for white. With Margaret being listed as both Black and mulatto over the decades, one can speculate that she must have had light skin as well.

There is also some confusion or mystery concerning Margaret’s marital relationship(s). While the 1880 and 1900 census records imply that George Turner Sr. is the father of George Turner Jr., George Turner Jr.’s death certificate states that a white man named William Marion Walker was his father. According to park archivist Michael Aday, it was alleged that William Walker had several extralegal wives, including Margaret Turner. While there is no information to prove this as fact, Walker’s name being listed on George Turner Jr.’s. death certificate does provide some credibility to this rumor. On an online blog, a descendant of the Turner family stated that Margaret was Walker’s common law wife. Walker is also listed as George Turner Jr.’s father on Family Search, an online genealogical resource.

The AAES project is still searching for information on Margaret and George Turner Sr.’s lives in South Carolina before they moved to East Tennessee. Margaret Turner is buried at the Meigs Mountain Cemetery along with John, Logan, and Major Turner. ³ Her gravestone identifies her as Sook Turner with no date of birth or death.

George W. Turner Jr.

George Washington Turner was one of Margaret Turner’s six children. Records indicate that he was born March 1, 1879. While his father is implied to be George W. Turner Sr. per the 1880 and 1900 census records, his death certificate lists William M. Walker as his father. He was married to Mary E. B. Turner who was born on February 2, 1889. She is commonly known as Birdie Turner and is listed in historical records under several names: Mary E. B. Turner, Mary Turner, Birdie Turner, Birddie Turner, Berddie Turner, and Birdie or Berdie Wilkerson. According to their marriage certificate, George and Mary Turner were married on July 7, 1907. They had nine children: Margaret J. Turner, John Russell Turner, Bonnie Helen Bailey, Georgia Turner, Willie Turner, Clyde Turner, Carl P. Turner, Blaine Turner, and Roy Harrison Turner.

Remains of the Turner family’s stone house is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Meigs Mountain in Tremont. After the park purchased the land in the 1960s, George and Birdie Turner moved to Townsend, TN. George Turner passed away on February 26, 1966. He is buried in the Tremont Cemetery with Birdie Turner who passed away in January 1981. George Turner Jr.’s death certificate identifies him as a white man. Over the decades both his and Birdie’s race was recorded as Black, mulatto, and white. The couple is listed as mulatto in the 1910 census record. A decade later, the 1920 census record lists George as Black and Birdie as white. Both are listed as “negro” (Black) in the 1930 and 1940 census records.⁴

³ It is not clear if the John Turner that she is buried with is her son or grandson who both had the same name.
⁴ The term negro is a dated term that should not be used outside of a historical context.

Birdie Turner
Birdie Turner’s mother, Victoria Wilkerson, was a white woman who lived in Wears Valley in Sevier County. Some documents list her birthplace as Mississippi, while others list it as Tennessee. She is buried at Meigs Mountain Cemetery along with Margaret Turner and the other three Turner family members. Historical documents do not identify that she was ever married, nor do they identify who Birdie’s father was. With this in mind, and that Birdie was listed as mulatto, Black, and white in census records, one can assume that her father likely was a Black man. When a birthplace for her father is listed on historical documents, it is vaguely listed as “USA”.

Victoria’s status as a single woman all of her life also supports this likely possibility that Birdie’s father was Black; perhaps a relationship with him was not acceptable, and/or it was difficult for her to marry because she was the single mother to a bi-racial child. Perhaps Birdie’s father passed away soon after she was conceived. There are so many possibilities as to why we do not have any information on who Birdie’s father was. However, with the information that we do have it is safe to speculate that he was Black, or bi-racial himself.

Ownby Connection
George Turner Jr. worked in the lumber/timber and farming industries. According to Turner’s 1918 draft registration card for World War I, Turner worked in the logging industry for an employer named Mitchell Ownbey in Elkmont.⁵ While Ownby is a well-known name in the park, the AAES is still trying to identify how Mitchell Ownbey may have been related to John B. Ownby of the historic John Ownby cabin located in the Sugarlands.

⁵ Spelled Ownbey not Ownby in some historical documents; the last name has appeared as Ownsley as well.

 

Research Sources

Reedy, David. “Stories from the Valley: George Turner.” Tremont Institute, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, 19 Feb. 2020, gsmit.org/stories-from-the-valley-george-turner/. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.

“Smoky Mountain Cemetery Creeping: Meigs Mountain Cemetery.” Smoky Mountain Cemetery Creeping, Blogger, 2014, smokymountaincemeterycreeping.blogspot.com/2014/10/meigs-mountain-cemetery.html. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.

Registration State: Tennessee; Registration County: Warren County

Year: 1880; Census Place: Wears Valley, Sevier, Tennessee; Roll: 1277; Page: 385C; Enumeration District: 183

Year: 1930; Census Place: District 3, Sevier, Tennessee; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0003; FHL microfilm: 2342005