Jonathan Baldwin Turner

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A middle-aged man with a very bushy beard is looking straight at the camera. His head is slanted slightly to viewer's right.
Turner in the 1860s

Jonathan Baldwin Turner (December 7, 1805 – January 10, 1899) was an American classical scholar, an ordained minister, a professor, a campaigner for the abolition of slavery, and political activist. He also campaigned in favor of land grant universities.[1][2] In 1835, Turner married Rhodolphia Kibbe and they had seven children.[3][4]

Turner was the author of "A Plan for an Industrial University" for the state of Illinois's Farmer's Convention at Granville in 1851.[5] He had laid out a plan for a national grant to provide an industrial and mechanical college for each US state.[6] A similar plan was later introduced in the Senate by Senator Justin Morrill and became law as the Morrill Land-Grant Act in 1862.[7]

Early life[edit]

Jonathan Baldwin Turner was born December 7, 1805, outside Templeton, Massachusetts; his parents were farmers Asa Turner and Nabby Baldwin. Jonathan was educated in local schools before attending and graduating from Yale College (University), where he studied classical literature at Yale, and excelled in Greek and English composition. Turner was ordained as a minister and graduated in 1833, after which he moved to Illinois to become a professor at the newly organized Illinois College at Jacksonville.[8] He taught subjects across the whole curriculum but specialized in Belles-lettres, Latin, and Greek.[8] Students of Turner, the Green brothers, brought him in contact with Lincoln[clarification needed], who was helping with the harvest on the Green Family farm. Lincoln had heard of Turner's teaching and became interested in it.[9]

Educational activism[edit]

Jonathan Baldwin Turner's views in favor of the abolition of slavery were a subject of growing controversy.[10] In 1848, he resigned from his teaching post as chair of Belles-lettres, Greek, and literature at Illinois College. He created the Illinois Industrial League to advocate for a publicly funded system to provide "industrial" education that suited the needs of the working ("industrial") classes.[11]

Turner continued to advocate for his model of education.[12] A similar plan Justin Morrill introduced became law as the Morrill Land-Grant Act in 1862.[13] Turner was displeased with the political process that located the Illinois Industrial University in Urbana, Illinois.[1] Turner spoke at university's cornerstone-laying event,[14] saying: "Industrial education prepares the way for a millennium of labor", words that were carved in stone and placed above the university's main square.[15]

Agricultural research[edit]

A tree which spreads in all directions; it is wider than it is tall.
An Osage orange tree

Jonathan Baldwin Turner was an agriculturist; he improved agriculture and established the use of the "hedge apple" or thorny Osage orange tree (Maclura pomifera), a variety of which he developed.[16] At this time, there were very few trees on the prairies to set up split rail fences. While working as a professor at Illinois College, Turner began searching for a plant to use as a hedge to divide, cultivate the expanse of the prairie, and contain livestock. He was inspired by hedgerows in England,[17][18] and procured seeds from Texas with which to experiment on his farm in Butler, Illinois.[18]

In the late 1830s, Turner selected the Osage orange tree as an ideal plant for this purpose, and patented a machine for preparing the soil and planting the tree's seeds.[19][20] Turner then advertised and sold Osage orange seeds, which were widely used as hedges before the development of barbed wire between 1867 and 1874.[21] After barbed wire was introduced, farmers still used their Osage orange trees as fence posts, connecting the barbed wire directly to the tree trunks. The wood from this tree is strong, decay resistant, and long-lasting.[20]

Abolitionist and conductor of the Underground Railroad[edit]

Jonathan Baldwin Turner became the editor of a Jacksonville abolitionist newspaper, probably during the 1840s; he also became an assistant with the Underground Railroad and a vocal opponent of slavery.[22][23] Turner and his wife hid three black slaves for two weeks.[24] His life was frequently threatened due to his abolitionist beliefs.[24] Turner believed that the only way to fight slavery was with writing, speech, and the law.[25]

Later years[edit]

An old man in profile, facing to the left. He has a very bushy beard.
Turner as an older man

After the passing of the Morrill Act in 1862, Jonathan Baldwin Turner opposed the power of corporations, which he described as a conflict between the "natural" and "artificial man".[26] In addition, Turner was a trustee for the mentally ill in Illinois' hospitals.[27]

As an ordained minister, Turner was affiliated early on with two Congregational churches but his beliefs became increasingly unorthodox.[3] He wrote religious tracts championing the liberal teachings of Christ while criticizing Catholicism, Mormonism, and the Presbyterian administration of Illinois College, where he was a professor. Turner believed Christ's Creed is broad enough to save all of humanity; he wrote three books on Christ and about his views on Mormonism.[28]

Death and legacy[edit]

A boulder bearing a rusted, bronze inscription dedicated to Turner
Boulder dedicated to Turner's speech at the Granville Convention

Jonathan Baldwin Turner died on January 10, 1899, in Jacksonville, Illinois, at the age of 93. Tributes and memorials were made in his memory. A statue of Turner was erected at the University of Illinois, and Jonathan Turner Junior High School in Jacksonville was named for him. In 1923, a centuries-old boulder with a bronze plaque was placed in Granville, Illinois, honoring the Granville Convention and Turner.[29] The bronze tablet commemorates the introduction by Turner of the first institutions for scientific industrial higher learning at the Granville convention in 1851.[30]

The Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholarship at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provides $8,000 to a student over three years of college.[31][32] The College of Aces (Jonathan Baldwin Turner Fellowships) are for doctorate candidates.[33][non-primary source needed] Turner's papers are held by the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections of the University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign.[28]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Jonathan Baldwin Turner: Reformer and Visionary". Illinois History and Lincoln Collections. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. September 14, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Inman, Dean M. (1924). "Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner and the Granville Convention". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908–1984). 17 (1/2): 144–150. ISSN 0019-2287. JSTOR 40186966.
  3. ^ a b "Papers Of Abraham Lincoln". papersofabrahamlincoln.org. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "Letter from Jonathan Baldwin Turner to Rhodolphia Kibbe, November 12, 1834". Digital Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  5. ^ Turner, Jonathan Baldwin (September 10, 2010). A Plan For An Industrial University For The State Of Illinois. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-164-11398-0.
  6. ^ James, Edmund J. (November 1910). The origin of the Land grant act of 1862: (the so-called Morrill act) and some account of its author, Jonathan B. Turner. Urbana-Champaign: University Press.
  7. ^ Ross, Earle D. (1938). "The "Father" of the Land-Grant College". Agricultural History. 12 (2): 151–186. ISSN 0002-1482. On Justin S. Morrill versus Turner for credit for the land grant university plan.
  8. ^ a b Brown, Donald R. (1962). "Jonathan Baldwin Turner and the Land-Grant Idea". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908–1984). 55 (4): 370–384. ISSN 0019-2287. JSTOR 40190264.
  9. ^ Carriel, Mary Turner. "The life of Jonathan Baldwin Turner". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. pp. 251–255. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  10. ^ Carriel, Mary Turner (1911). The life of Jonathan Baldwin Turner. Cornell University Library. p. 61.
  11. ^ "Jonathan Baldwin Turner Papers". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  12. ^ Olson, Greg (March 30, 2023). "Early IC professor passionate on many fronts". The Source.
  13. ^ Cunningham, John M. "Land-Grant College Act of 1862". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  14. ^ "To Publish Biography of J. B. Turner For Land Grant Centennial". The Jacksonville Daily Journal. November 5, 1961. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  15. ^ Leetaru, Kalev. "Davenport Hall: UIHistories Project Virtual Tour at the University of Illinois". uihistories.library.illinois.edu. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "Osage orange (hedge apple)". SangamonLink. November 11, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Carriel, Mary Turner (1911). The life of Jonathan Baldwin Turner. Cornell University Library. pp. 59–61.
  18. ^ a b Bauer, Angela. "Benches are rooted in history at Illinois College". Jacksonville Journal-Courier. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  19. ^ "Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "The surprising ancient history of the hedge apple". Environment. March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  21. ^ "Jonathan Baldwin Turner". Clio. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  22. ^ "Jonathan Baldwin Turner, The Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 10 Nov 1961". The Daily Capital News. November 10, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  23. ^ "Jonathan Baldwin Turner". Clio. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Freedom's classroom". lib.niu.edu. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  25. ^ Rammelkamp, Charles H. (1928). "The Reverberations of the Slavery Conflict in a Pioneer College". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 14 (4): 447–461. doi:10.2307/1897149. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1897149.
  26. ^ Carriel, Mary Turner (1911). The life of Jonathan Baldwin Turner. Cornell University Library. p. 245.
  27. ^ "Letter from David S. Gregg to Jonathan Baldwin Turner, January 1, 1852". Digital Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  28. ^ a b "Turner, Jonathan Baldwin. Papers, 1823–1924". Illinois History and Lincoln Collections Manuscript Collections Database. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  29. ^ Stewart, Jane A. (1923). "Jonathan Baldwin Turner". The Journal of Education. 98 (14 (2450)): 376. doi:10.1177/002205742309801408. ISSN 0022-0574. JSTOR 42767982.
  30. ^ "Jonathan Baldwin Turner, The Checotah Times, OK, 14 Sep 1923". The Checotah Times. September 14, 1923. p. 7. Retrieved March 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "About – ACES Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholars". University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  32. ^ Stein, Marianne (December 19, 2022). "ACES welcomes 27 students as new Jonathan Baldwin Turner scholars". newherald. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  33. ^ "College of ACES Jonathan Baldwin Turner (JBT) Fellowships". Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. Retrieved April 3, 2024.

Further reading[edit]

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