The historical marker that bears his name doesn’t have room for it, but James Turner is the North Carolinian who came the closest to being President of the United States.
He only made it as far as Speaker of the House, said Mark Pace, local historian and North Carolina Room specialist at Thornton Library in Oxford. But Speaker of the U.S. House is second in line – behind the vice president – to assume the role of President if circumstances call for it.
As governor, U.S. Senator and state legislator, Turner has his own historical marker, one of 20 that can be seen along major roads throughout Warren County.
Pace and WIZS’s Bill Harris continued their discussion of historical markers in the four-county area in their tri-weekly history segment called Around Old Granville; Thursday’s segment focused on Warren County, which Pace described as one of the most important and influential areas in the state between the Revolution and the Civil War.
The first marker that went up in Warren County remembers Annie Carter Lee – the daughter of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. She and other family members had left their Virginia home because of the war and were staying at Jones Springs, a health resort. She died after contracting typhoid fever in 1862 and was buried in the Jones cemetery in Warrenton. Her remains were moved in the mid-1990’s and placed in the Lee family cemetery.
Her marker was placed in 1936, just one year after the state created the program.
Jacob Holt didn’t get a marker until 1976, Pace said.
“He was one of two really big architects in the boom era” between 1845 and 1861, Pace said.
He designed and built homes – many of which still stand. His interest lay in Greek Revival and Italianate styles, but his own home in Warrenton, Pace said is quite modest and doesn’t resemble the other examples of his work.
Find a complete list of historical markers located across the state at https://www.dncr.nc.gov/
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