Joseph Turner (loyalist)
Joseph Turner was a seaman, merchant, iron manufacturer, and politician in Philadelphia, where he served during the colonial era when the city was the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, and following American independence, when it was the new nation's capital and largest and most influential city.
Early life
Turner was born in 1701 in Hampshire, England.Career
In January 1714, Turner left England with his parents for Philadelphia in British America. Philadelphia records identify him as a sea captain in 1724 and a businessman in 1726. Decades prior to the American Revolution, he was a business partner of William Allen, the chief justice, and his firm, Allen and Turner, which was one of the most important in the Thirteen Colonies.Commerce
Turner entered into trade agreements and iron mining and manufacture ventures, including the Union Iron Works in present-day High Bridge, New Jersey. With Allen and others, Turner participated in the importation and trade of slaves, which was then legal.On March 18, 1732, Turner acquired the land that comprises present-day Allentown from Thomas Penn, a son of William Penn. The land was sold two years later, on September 10, 1735, to William Allen.
Politics
Turner was also engaged in politics. He was elected as a member of the Philadelphia City Council in 1729, an alderman in 1741, and as a member of Province of Pennsylvania's provincial council in 1747.In 1745, Abram Taylor was elected mayor of Philadelphia, then a non-paying office, but declined to serve, for which he was fined thirty pounds. The Philadelphia city council then elected Turner to the office but he likewise refused it, for which he was similarly fined.
During the American Revolution, which lasted from 1775 to 1783, Turner was a staunch loyalist.