{{Infobox governorofficeholder

|order=26^th26th

|preceded2=[[James W. Deaderick]]

|birth_date={{birth date|1827|09|2722}}

|death_date={{death date and age|1903|10|2819|1827|9|2722}}

|resting_place=Winchester City Cemetery<br/> Winchester, Tennessee<ref name=findagrave>{{findagrave|5238232}}</ref>

|party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]

|allegiance={{flagiconflag|CSA|variant=1861b}}[[Confederate States of America]]}}

|branch= [[Confederate States Army]]{{army|CSA}}

|rank= [[File:Confederate_States_of_America_Colonel.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]

|commands= {{flagicon image|Tennessee 1861 proposed.svg}} 1st Tennessee Infantry (Provisional)

'''Peter Turney''' (September 22, 1827{{spaced ndash}}October 19, 1903) was an American politician, soldier, and jurist, who served as the 26th [[Governorgovernor of Tennessee]] from 1893 to 1897. He was also a justice onof the [[Tennessee Supreme Court]] from 1870 to 1893, and served as the court's Chief Justice from 1886 to 1893. During the Civil War, Turney was colonel of the First Tennessee Regiment, one of the first Tennessee units to join the Confederate Army.<ref name=tehc>Leonard Schlup, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1412 Peter Turney]," ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: 15 November 2012.</ref><ref>Tim Stowell, "[http://www.tngenweb.org/james/regthist.htm#1ctnreg Tennessee Confederate Regimental Sketches]," TNGenWeb.org. Retrieved: 15 November 2012.</ref>

As governor, Turney ended the state's controversial [[convict lease]] system and enacted other prison reform measures. His second term was marred by the 1894 gubernatorial election, which he won only after the state's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]-controlled legislature threw out thousands of votes for his opponent, [[H. Clay Evans|Henry Clay Evans]].<ref name=tehc />

| authorlinkauthor-link =

| work = New York Times

A strong Southern Democrat, Turney campaigned for [[John C. Breckinridge]] in the presidential race of 1860, and called for immediate secession after [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s victory. In February 1861, he was the pro-secession candidate from his district for a proposed state convention at which Tennessee would have considered the secession issue (his pro-Union opponent was future governor [[Albert S. Marks]]). When Tennessee voters rejected this convention and upheld the state's ties to the Union, Turney spearheaded a movement that called for Franklin County to secede from Tennessee and join Alabama.<ref name=tehc />

In the two weeks following the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] in April 1861, as sentiments in Tennessee shifted in favor of secession, Turney raised a regiment of troops, the First Tennessee Infantry (sometimes called "Turney's First" to distinguish it from a similarly-designated regiment). As Tennessee had yet to officially secede, Turney acted mostly in secret until early May, when the state aligned itself militarily with the Confederacy.<ref name=greenbag>''[http[The Green Bag (1889–1914)|The Green Bag]]'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=NVEZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA225&dq=%22peter+turney%22+chief+justice&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fD-lUNL2KIak8QSA7IG4DQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22peter%20turney%22%20jasper%20marion&f=false The Green Bag: An Entertaining Magazine for Lawyers]'', Vol. 5 (1893), pp. 228-231.</ref>

Turney's unit arrived in Virginia on May 8, and was eventually attached to the [[Army of Northern Virginia]]. The unit took part in the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] in July 1861, and spent the subsequent months patrolling the [[Potomac River]] region. In 1862, the unit took part in the [[Jackson's Valley Campaign|Shenandoah Campaign]], the [[Seven Days Battles]], and the [[Peninsula Campaign]]. At the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]] in December 1862, Turney was shot in the mouth, and never returned to active fighting. While he was away recovering, his unit fought in the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], marching with the left flank of [[Pickett's Charge]].<ref name=keathley>Sandy Keathley, [http://www.petersburgbreakthrough.org/1stTN.htm 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Descendants Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101083925/http://petersburgbreakthrough.org/1stTN.htm |date=2013-01-01 }}, 7 August 2012. Retrieved: 17 November 2012.</ref> Turney was given an administrative command in Florida in 1864, and remained there until the end of the war.<ref name=greenbag />

Following Tennessee's implementation of its 1870 constitution, Turney was elected to the Tennessee Supreme Court. He was reelected in 1878 and 1886, and was elevated to Chief Justice following the latter race.<ref name=tehc /> Although he spent 23 years on the court, Turney issued few opinions, and those he did write have been described by legal scholars as short and confusing.<ref name=brown>James W. Ely, Jr., "[httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=8kPNPxfWiUsC&pg=PA154&dq=%22peter+turney%22+chief+justice&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gnOlUPLMD4600QGZ64DwAw&ved=0CEUQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=%22peter%20turney%22%20cryptic&f=false The Tennessee Supreme Court, 1886-1910]," ''A History of the Tennessee Supreme Court'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2002), p. 155.</ref>

In October 1891, the Turney-led court ruled on two cases related to a labor-related uprising in [[Anderson County, Tennessee]], known as the [[Coal Creek War]]. The Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) had attempted to replace striking miners with convicts leased from the state, and the miners had responded by overwhelming company stockades and removing the convicts. Governor [[John P. Buchanan]] had sent the state guard into the area, and had negotiated an uneasy truce with the miners while the state considered ending the convict lease system.<ref name=shapiro> Karin Shapiro, ''A New South Rebellion: The Battle Against Convict Labor in the Tennessee Coalfields, 1871-1896'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), pp. 85, 136-137, 215, 244.</ref>

In the first case, ''State v. Jenkins'', the state had sued TCMC president B.A. Jenkins for threatening to close one of the company's mines if the miners did not fire their checkweighman (who weighed the coal for which the miners were paid). The state argued this violated a state law that granted miners the right to an independent checkweighman. Turney ruled against the state, arguing that while the law prevented mine owners from directly firing checkweighmen, it did not prevent mine owners from closing mines should miners refuse their demands to fire checkweighmen.<ref name=shapiro />

In the second case, ''State v. Jack'', a convict, William Warren (with the help of the striking miners), had filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging TCMC's authority to hold him prisoner, arguing that the state's primary convict lessee, Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company (TCI), violated its contract with the state by subleasing convicts to TCMC. A lower court had ruled in favor of Warren, and ordered him returned to the state's direct custody. Turney, however, overruled the lower court, arguing that the TCMC stockade was essentially a "branch prison" of the state, and that a convict in a state prison could not file for habeas corpus.<ref name=shapiro />

In 1892, Turney sought the Democratic Party's nomination for governor, hoping to replace incumbent Governor Buchanan. He quickly gained the support of the party's [[Bourbon Democrats|Bourbon]] and pro-business factions, who had grown frustrated with Buchanan's handling of the Coal Creek War. Buchanan, lacking the support to win renomination, withdrew from the party to run as an independent, and Turney coasted to the party's nomination. In the general election, Turney was elected governor with 127,247 votes to 100,629 for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate, George Winstead, 31,515 for Buchanan, and 5,427 for [[Prohibition Party (United States)|Prohibition]] candidate [[Edward H. East]].<ref name=langsdon />

Although Turney had issued rulings favorable to the convict lease system as Chief Justice, upon becoming governor, he quickly signed legislation (April 1893) that effectively ended the controversial practice. The legislation called for the construction of a state penitentiary and the purchase of coal and farm lands where inmates would work. This allowed the state to defray the costs of prison maintenance while preventing convict labor from competing with free market labor.<ref name=shapiro />

While Turney had resolved the convict lease issue, the Democratic Party was assailed for its ineffective response to the [[Panic of 1893]]. In the 1894 governor's race, Republicans nominated Henry Clay Evans, a former congressman who had been gerrymandered out of office for supporting the [[Lodge Bill]]. Though Turney painted Evans as a [[carpetbagger]], Evans ran an effective campaign, and the initial vote tally on election day indicated Evans had won with 105,104 votes to 104,356 for Turney, and 23,088 for [[Populist Party (United States)|Populist]] candidate A.J. Mims. The Democratic-controlled legislature, however, declared voter fraud had occurred, and negated over 23,000 votes, allowing Turney to win the election by 2,000 votes.<ref name=langsdon />

Turney never recovered from the fallout from the "stolen" election of 1894. During his second term, he began organizing the state's centennial celebrations, but his efforts were inadequate, and the celebrations were delayed until the Summer of 1897, after he had left office.<ref name=langsdon />

Turney did not seek reelection in 1896, and did not seek public office again afterward.<ref name=tehc /> He died in Winchester, Tennessee, on October 19,in 1903, and was buried in the Winchester City Cemetery.<ref name=findagravetehc />

The state penitentiary authorized during Turney's administration, [[Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary]], operated from 1896 to 2009. The coal and farm lands purchased as part of the prison complex are now part of [[Frozen Head State Park]].<ref>[http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/FrozenHead/index.shtml#naturalarea Frozen Head State Park - History]. Retrieved: 17 November 2012.</ref> In tribute to Turney's prison reform efforts, the Turney Center for Youthful Offenders (now the Turney Center Industrial Complex), which opened in 1971 in [[Hickman County, Tennessee|Hickman County]], was named in his honor.<ref>[http://www.tn.gov/correction/pdf/HistoricalTimelineRevAug2010.pdf Tennessee Department of Correction, 1700&ndash;2009 Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320034620/http://www.tn.gov/correction/pdf/HistoricalTimelineRevAug2010.pdf |date=2012-03-20 }}, p. 9.</ref>

Turney's brother, Joe, used his political connections to manage a chain gang for financial gain, inspiring a famous blues song, "Joe Turner," which in turn inspired [[August Wilson]]'s play, ''[[Joe Turner's Come and Gone]]''.<ref>[httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=16pzwJnJKnkC&lpg=PA134&dq=joe%20turner%20chain%20gang&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q=joe%20turner%20chain%20gang&f=false American drama 1945-2000: an introduction By David Krasner], p. 134</ref><ref>Vic Hobson, "[https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/35260/1/2008HobsonVPhD.pdf Reengaging Blues Narratives: Alan Lomax, Jelly Roll Morton, and W.C. Handy]," doctoral dissertation, 2008.</ref>

Turney married his first wife, Cassandra Webb Garner, on June 10,in 1851.<ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Turney&GSiman=1&GScnty=2450&GRid=15873864& Cassandra W. Garner Turney] at [[Find A Grave]]</ref> They had three children: Thomas, Virginia, and Hopkins Lacey. After his first wife died in 1857, he married as his second wife, Hannah Ferguson Graham, on April 27,in 1858. <ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25597740 Hannah Ferguson Graham Turney] at [[Find A Grave]]</ref> They had tennine children: Teresa, John, Peter, Jr.,<ref Aletha, Samuel, Lowndes, James, Woodson, Hannah, and Miller Francis.name=tehc/>

* [[List of Governorsgovernors of Tennessee]]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130712212044/http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/govpapers/findingaids/gp30.pdf Peter Turney Papers (finding aid)] &ndash; Tennessee State Library and Archives

*[httphttps://www.nga.org/cmsgovernor/render/live/en/sites/NGA/home/governors/pastpeter-governors-biosturney/page_tennessee/col2-content/main-content-list/title_turney_peter.html Turney's entry at ''The National Governors Association'']

|years=1893-18971893–1897

[[Category:GovernorsDemocratic Party governors of Tennessee]]

[[Category:Chief Justicesjustices of the Tennessee Supreme Court]]

[[Category:People from Marion CountyJasper, Tennessee]]