Four great grandsons of John J. Turner compiled the information used in this story. Richard, John, Bob, and Eric Gilston also collaborated on a segment on Turner Construction that was part of WMHT-TV's Our Town Amsterdam documentary in 2010.
Turner family Amsterdam builders
By Bob Cudmore
The family construction company founded by John J. Turner built Amsterdam's Clock Building and schools including today s Lynch Literacy Academy.
Starting in 1913 the Turner firm spent four years renovating the mansion owned by the carpet-making Sanford family on Church Street, now City Hall. The Turners built new homes for other captains of industry, such as the Guy Park Avenue mansion constructed for knitting mill owner David Chalmers.
John J. Turner was born in 1853 in the town of Day, Saratoga County. He learned masonry and construction from his father, Michael Turner, an Irish immigrant. When Michael's wife Bridget died in 1872 the family moved to Amsterdam, where they likely had relatives. Michael remarried and continued to work as a mason and builder.
Tragedy struck the night of April 24, 1876. Part of the bridge from Amsterdam to what was then Port Jackson had been destroyed by a spring ice floe. Michael Turner was the night watchman at a temporary ferry across the Mohawk River. Around midnight two attorneys who worked in Amsterdam engaged Michael to row them across the river to Port Jackson, where the men lived. Their small boat overturned and all three drowned.
John J. Turner found work in the building trades, at first with H.C. Grieme. When Amsterdam incorporated as a city in 1885, Turner was elected to the board of alderman as a Democrat.
He partnered with others building important structures in the Amsterdam area and even helped construct the state prison in Dannemora in northern New York. In business for himself after 1902, his firm constructed the trolley car power station in Tribes Hill and buildings for General Electric in Schenectady and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
John Turner and Sons went into business as a construction company around 1906. All three sons of John and Maria Egan Turner were educated in civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.
The Turner family lived in a modest brick home at 53 Union Street. John J. Turner died in 1924 at age 71.
His eldest son, John P. Turner, became company president but died of a heart attack three years later at age 45. John P. Turner had supervised completion of the power station opposite Cranesville, now Cranesville Block, and was especially proud of building the then new St. Mary s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Richard E. Turner, who was deaf, then headed the firm until his death in 1940 at age 56. He was owner of the Amsterdam Rugmakers baseball team and an accomplished photographer.
Richard and his brother Thomas A. Turner are credited with building Lynch school and the Century Club.
They built a housing development of over fifty single family homes in Amsterdam called Hollywood or Little Hollywood off Locust Avenue. The streets are named for American presidents: McKinley, Harrison, Garfield, Taft, Roosevelt and Hayes.
The homes originally were built primarily for middle managers employed by the nearby Bigelow Sanford Carpets. The project is mentioned in journals kept by Richard Turner.
The Turner construction firm went into decline in the 1940s. Thomas A. Turner, however, remained active in local civic affairs until his death in 1953 at age 65.
Four great grandsons of John J. Turner compiled the information used in this story. Richard, John, Bob, and Eric Gilston also collaborated on a segment on Turner Construction that was part of WMHT-TV's Our Town Amsterdam documentary in 2010.
Richard Gilston said the Turner family did more than create a successful business, In the process they raised their own families and countless other immigrants out of poverty and put them within reach of achieving their own American dreams.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Robin Oliveira discusses her book “Winter Sisters,” set in Albany, N.Y., in 1879. Oliveira grew up in the Albany area and is also author of a novel about a Civil War physician, “My Name is Mary Sutter.” Sutter is a major character in “Winter Sisters.”
New York, 1879: An epic blizzard descends on Albany, devastating the city. When the snow finally settles, two newly orphaned girls are missing. Determined not to give up hope, Dr. Mary Sutter, a former Civil War surgeon, searches for the two sisters
A Virginia doctor has written a new book recalling his World War II memories of both the home front in Amsterdam and the last days of the war in Europe.
Friday, April 28, 2023-Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Unearthed is the story of Meryl’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Coming in May on The Historians
Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s. Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 25, 2023
A slight chance of showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 53. West wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 33. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday
Showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 54. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, April 25, 2023
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