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TURNER, Benjamin Sterling (1825-1894)
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TURNER, BENJAMIN STERLING, a Representative from Alabama; born near Weldon, Halifax County, N.C., March 17, 1825; raised as a slave; received no early education; moved to Alabama in 1830 and by clandestine study obtained a fair education; engaged in mercantile pursuits; elected tax collector of Dallas County in 1867; councilman of the city of Selma in 1869; elected as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1873); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1872 to the Forty-third Congress; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880; engaged in agricultural pursuits in Alabama; died in Selma, Dallas County, Ala., March 21, 1894; interment in Live Oak Cemetery.

  • "Benjamin Sterling Turner" in Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History & Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2008.