Biography

03/23/1814 - 08/31/1881

William J. Turrell (R9) Bradford, Susquehanna, Sullivan and Wyoming Counties 1863-1864 (R11) Bradford, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties 1865

Early Life: 

William J. Turrell, born March 23, 1814, New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut; son of William Sr.; moved, with father, Montrose, Pennsylvania, 1816; apprenticed, with his father as a saddle and harness maker; studied law, attorney; married Huldah V. Van Valkenburgh Turrell, 1854, infant son; elected, Republican Pennsylvania State Senate, 1863-1864; elected, Republican Pennsylvania State Senate, 1865; elected Speaker, 1865; deputy state attorney general, Susquehanna County five-year term; delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, 1873; died, August 31, 1881 (aged 67), interment, Montrose Cemetery, Montrose, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Studied law under the Reverend R.L. Post. Became a legal partner of Post’s; the Baptist minister, eventually left the law practice to become a full-time missionary, that allowed the opportunity to take over the firm.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 9th district, Bradford, Susquehanna, Sullivan and Wyoming Counties, 1863-1864. Chairman, Education Committee, 1863, Chairman, Judiciary Committee, 1864.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 11th district, Bradford, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties, 1865; defeated, Democrat William Wallace, elected Speaker, 1865.

Deputy state attorney general, Susquehanna County five-year term. 

Delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, chaired, Committee on State Institutions and Builders, member, Private Corporations Committee, 1873.

Legacy:

Tombstone inscription reads:

"From the Eulogy of Wm. M. Post: To the young men of our profession who have their future yet before them, the life and career of Wm. J. Turrell may well be accepted as an example and inspiration not so much because he acquired wealth, honor and distinction as that he was a conscientious lawyer, a useful citizen, a good and true man - remembering always that human greatness is of the earth, transitory, and fades away - but goodness comes from Heaven, is part of God Himself, and is immortal."

Cited: 

Cox, Harold Senate Members "T" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull, J.A., (Editor) Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1868) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 276, 280-282.

William J Turrell (1814-1881) - Find a Grave Memorial