“How sad it is,” murmured Dorian Gray. “How sad it is. I shall grow old and horrible and dreadful but this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day in June. If it were only the other way. … I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose?”–Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
“To live in the hearts of men is not to die.”
Richard T. Turner (1809-1877), our third great-grandfather, claimed to have been born in New York City then lived in Savannah, Georgia for most of the rest of his life. He progressively made his living as a sailmaker, a chandler (ship’s merchant), and a customs officer before holding elected office as a Savannah Port Warden, including preceding and through the occupation of the city by Union troops under the command of General William T. Sherman in 1864 and 1865. Richard’s son George Thomas Turner (1842-1888) was a lawyer (and Confederate soldier) who had nine children, including our great-grandmother Lillian Melvin Turner (1872-1936). Lillian’s son is our beloved grandfather Leon Harman Grayson (1906-1993).
In Richard Turner’s Savannah Morning News death notice published February 12, 1877 we are told, “Mr. Turner was probably best known for his connection to the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a zealous member for more than forty years.” According to a later article in the Savannah Press:
Among Masons he was looked upon as one of the most learned and faithful men of his time. It is said such a life as that of Richard T. Turner cannot die, for “to live in the hearts of men is not to die” and it is truly said of him, “his deeds do live after him.” …He was a member of the relief committees during the yellow fever epidemic in Savannah in 1876, and his health became so run down from his heroic work among the fever victims that he never fully recovered his strength of activity. His Masonic record shows that he was one of the most learned as well as one of the most beloved men among Masons in Georgia. He was initiated into Solomon’s Lodge No. 1 on March 2, 1837. On December 20, 1844, he was elected worshipful master, and filled that office for 12 years. He was high priest of Georgia Chapter 3, R.A.M. [Royal Arch Masons,] Thrice illustrious G.M. of Georgia Council No. 2, R. and S.M. [Royal and Select Masons,] Past deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.¹
Sitting Room Portraits
The Portrait of Richard T. Turner
Having researched and written about our ancestor Richard Turner in the past, I only recently discovered that there is an active Masonic lodge named for him. Richard T. Turner Lodge #116 in Bloomingdale, Georgia has endured as such since 1888. When I wrote the lodge requesting any information they could supply about our ancestor, Bro. Joe W., the Past Master and current Secretary, kindly replied:
I have received your letter and am very excited to see that ancestors of the great Richard T Turner are still alive and well. Brother Turner was a great man. He lived through major changes in our country and was well respected by all those who knew him. He was a great Master of Solomon’s Lodge #1 in Savannah which is currently the OLDEST continually functioning lodge in the Western hemisphere. He was not only master but was elected Master sixteen times. Brother Turner… was recognized and memorialized as an honor to Solomon’s Lodge #1 so that we could establish a lodge about 15 miles away. In the later part of the 19th century it was difficult to ride horse and buggy that far in a day and many wanted a lodge established closer to their homes and farms. With his name as a token of appreciation, the members of Solomon’s voted to allow a new lodge to be chartered and over 130 years later we are striving to honor those great men that came before us.”
Attached to the correspondence were photos of the lodge decor, including the detailed 1915 Savannah Press article on the early years of the Bloomingdale lodge, a plaque memorializing Richard Turner’s service to the Masons, and, most impressively, an oil portrait of Richard in his Worshipful Master sash, apron, and gavel. Brother Joe wrote that “The painting is a real painting and is large, about 4 feet high.” According to the Savannah Press article,
“At a meeting of Solomon’s Lodge, held Thursday, September 8, 1915, the lodge presented the life-size oil painting of Past Master Richard Thomas Turner that has been in the possession of Solomon’s Lodge for many years. The paining is a valuable one and represents Brother Turner as the worshipful master. The painting will occupy a prominent position in the lodge room at Pooler.”¹ [today located in Bloomingdale]
At the meeting held June 18, 1910, the M.M. degree was conferred upon Bro. Walter S. Collins by a team from… Savannah [including] Wm. L. Grayson, W.M. of Zerubbabel Lodge. … At the meeting held July 8, 1911, the secretary reported that through the kindness of Col. Wm. L. Grayson, clerk of the superior court, duplicate copies of the deed to the Masonic lot in Pooler had been presented the lodge, the original deeds having been lost.
Col. William L. Grayson, our great-grandfather, then himself a Masonic worshipful master, was married to Richard’s granddaughter Lillian and surely made that 1910 trip to the RT Turner Masonic Lodge in part to honor his wife’s ancestor. It is my intention to accept the generous invitation of Bro. Joe and make a similar trip to view the portrait of Richard T. Turner in person, a marvelous testament to the respect once held for our predecessor, and a mark of the honor that continues to be bestowed on him.
UPDATE: In May 2019 I spent two days in Savannah with cousin Monroe Parsons, 2nd great-grandson of Richard Turner. Br. Joe W. and his lodgemates hosted us and others for dinner at their Lodge in nearby Bloomingdale. Many thanks for their hospitality, and for being such careful stewards of the portrait of Richard Turner.
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