His mother Kate died in Lewisburg on October 14, 1888, and his brother Claude died in Lewisburg on September 5, 1889, at the age of 14, falling headforemost into a vat of boiling water at the Greenbrier Cannery.[3]
Turner married Katie B. Fletcher from Staunton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 1897.[4] She died on December 9.[5][a] He then married a woman named Fannie, who died on September 15, 1899.[7][8]
Turner married Eugenia C. Sauter, the daughter of machinist Antoine Sauter in Norfolk, Virginia, on October 27, 1902. The marriage was performed by St. Mary's pastor Rev. John Doherty.[9]
The Incubator Building at the Jamestown Exposition.
Turner invented a coal and grain trimming machine known as the Turner Cargo Trimming Machine.[12] In 1906, the Mechanical Loading & Trimming company was formed with $200,000 capital stock.[13] He received foreign and domestic patents.[14][15][16]
In 1909, Turner invented a fishing rod and a talcum powder box.[17][18][19] The talcum powder box could be used with only one hand.[20][21] In 1910, the Turner Product Company was started with a capital of $40,000, with Turner being the vice-president.[22] In 1914, the American Products Corporation was incorporated to manufacture and sell talcum powder with capital ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 as needed, with Turner being the secretary-treasurer.[23][24]
Movie theaters
Charles Turner (bottom right) at a gathering of the Virginia Exhibitors League.
Turner also managed movie theaters, including the Palace from 1910 to 1914 and Columbia in 1915.[25][26] In 1912, the Palace caught fire, spreading to nearby buildings. Turner's house was lost in the flames as he had no insurance.[27] He was an officer of the Virginia state branch of the Motion Picture Exhibitors League of America.[28] He was elected vice president at the convention of May 23, 1913, held at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.[29]
Hopewell
Turner lived in Hopewell, Virginia from 1915 to 1925.[30] He was manager of the American Patents Company.[31] He worked with DuPont as a sheet metal foreman until they closed the ammunition plant after the First World War.[2][32]
Charity
Turner was chairman of the local Red Cross chapter, at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Poythress Street.[32][33][34] He was vice president of the Chamber of Commerce. He was president of the Day Nursery Association for six years. He organized the DuPont Volunteer Firemen's Association in 1917.[35] He was also a probation officer for six years, working without pay.[32][36]
In 1923 Turner was director of the newly created Department of Public Welfare, which did the work previously done by the Red Cross.[37] He resigned as Red Cross chairman but was appointed executive secretary.[38]
Turner lived in Tampa, Florida, on Dekle Avenue from 1930 until his death in 1943.[43][44] His wife Eugenia died in 1940.[30]
Notes
^Her father Richard Fletcher lost a leg at Gettysburg.[6]
References
^"West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F1P2-X4L : 9 March 2018), Charles Turner, 02 Apr 1877; citing Lewisburg, Greenbrier, West Virginia, United States, county courthouses, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 595,033.
^Charles A Turner 1 Oct 1897 Historical Society of Pennsylvania Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 [database on-line]
