Ellwood J. Turner

Ellwood J. Turner

119th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office 1939–1941
Preceded by	Roy E. Furman
Succeeded by	Elmer Kilroy
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the Delaware County district
In office 1925–1948
Personal details
Born	August 9, 1886 Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Died	March 1, 1948 (1948-04) (aged 61) Chester, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Addis Downing
Children	5 children
Alma mater	Swarthmore College University of Pennsylvania Law School
Religion	Presbyterian

Ellwood Jackson Turner (August 9, 1886 – March 1, 1948) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1925 to 1948, serving as Speaker from 1939 to 1941.

Biography

Ellwood Turner was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to Frederick Fairthorne and Virginia (née Short) Turner.^[1] He moved with his family to Scranton, then Wilkes-Barre, before settling in Chester. He graduated from Chester High School in 1904.^[1]

He attended Swarthmore College for one year before studying at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his LL.B. degree in 1908.^[1] At Penn, he served as class president each year, played on the varsity football team, and was a member of the Mask and Wig Club.^[1] He practiced law in Philadelphia and opened an office in Chester in 1912. He married Elizabeth Addis Downing in 1911; the couple had five children. He served as the first president of the Kiwanis Club of Chester after it was founded in 1919; he was later elected Governor of the Pennsylvania District (1920) and Vice-President of Kiwanis International (1924).^[2]

Turner was first elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County in 1924. An opponent of fellow Republican Governor Gifford Pinchot, he spoke out against Pinchot's proposal to dissolve the state Public Service Commission, and called for transferring control of the state budget from the governor to the auditor general.^[3] He also introduced legislation prohibiting more than one family member from working for the state, a proposal which was aimed at Pinchot's personal secretary (who was married to a clerical worker in the governor's office).^[3] He was also a leading opponent of Pinchot's Democratic successor, Governor George H. Earle.

Turner became House Speaker after Republicans regained control of the legislature in 1939, serving in that position until 1941. He was elected to the Board of Managers of the Council of State Governments in 1937, serving as chairman in 1940. He also served as chairman of the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin. In 1945, he unsuccessfully challenged E. Wallace Chadwick for the Republican nomination for the county probate court.^[3]

References

1 2 3 4 Jordan, John Woolf, ed. (1914). A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Its People. III. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company.
↑ "Kiwanis Club". Old Chester, PA.
1 2 3 McLarnon, John M. (2003). Ruling Suburbia: John J. McClure and the Republican Machine in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp.

Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (since 1791)

Bingham Wynkoop Latimer Evans Weaver Snyder Porter Snyder Boileau Engle Weber Tod R. Smith St. Clair Holgate Hill Davidson Hill J. Lawrence Gilmore J. Lawrence Sutherland Ritner Middleswarth F. Smith Laporte Findley Anderson W. Patterson J. Thompson Middleswarth Dewart Hopkins Crabb Snowden H. Wright Snowden F. Patterson Cooper Packer McCalmont Cessna Rhey Schell Chase Strong R. Wright Getz Longaker W. Lawrence Davis Rowe Cessna Johnson Olmstead Kelley Glass Davis Clark Strang Webb Elliott McCormick S. Patterson Myer Long Hewitt Faunce Graham Boyer C. Thompson Walton Boyer Farr Marshall Walton McClain Cox Shreve Alter Ambler Baldwin Spangler Whitaker Goodnough Bluett McClure Hess Goodnough Talbot Sarig Furman Turner Kilroy Fiss Lichtenwalter Sorg C. Smith Andrews Helm Andrews Helm Hamilton Lee Fineman Lee Fineman Irvis Seltzer Ryan Irvis Manderino O'Donnell DeWeese Ryan Perzel O'Brien McCall S. Smith Turzai

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