HENRY M. TURNER, D. D., LL. D.
Of our many gifted, enthusiastic, and eloquent men, few have been more favored by nature than Henry M. Turner. A native of South Carolina, he seems to have the genius and fire of the Calhouns and McDuffies, without possessing a drop of their blood. Mr. Turner is a good-sized, fine-looking, brown-skinned man, of forty years of age, with a splendid voice, fluent in speech, pleasing in gestures, and powerful in his delivery. It is said that at the tender age of twelve, he had a dream in which he saw multitudes of men coming to him to be taught.[55] That dream made an impression that followed him to the present time, and no doubt had much influence in shaping his course of life. He was licensed to preach before he had reached his twenty-first year. He joined the A. M. E. Church in 1857. During the rebellion, President Lincoln appointed him chaplain of the 1st Regiment, U. S. C. T., and the first, too, of all the colored chaplains. He resigned his pastoral relations with his church, and followed his brother-men to the battle-field, and remained in service till the close of the war.
In his “Apology,” Tanner says of Dr. Turner: “He is a remarkable man; and though at times the paraphernalia of the kitchen seems to be in the parlor, and, vice versa, there is always enough of him to demand the respect of the most learned and the admiration of the masses. More earnest than polite, a man who thinks for himself, speaks as he feels, and who fears only God, his memory will not cease with his life—a man who may truly say with Themistocles, ‘’Tis true I never learned how to tune a harp, or play upon a lute; but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable city to glory and greatness.’”
In a sermon preached on the death of the Rev. Milton Tillinghast, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Macon, Georgia, Dr. Turner shows himself to be an able theologian, and a man of the finest sensibilities. His “Negro in all Ages” is a production of rare merit, and exhibits great research.