Ardent defender of African American rights, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner
I often find myself imagining what life was like for the ancestors I research. Whether I’m tracing the African Diasporan roots of a client’s lineage or tending to my own family tree, I have a persistent yearning to understand and feel more than names and dates. I want to get a sense of their resilience, to know the determination that carried them through trials, and even to picture their everyday and ordinary activities.
To get me into the time and place, I recommend that novice to expert ancestral and genealogy researchers spend the quality time to go beyond the online family tree services. It is absolutely necessary to utilize government data, community news, and any oral history. For instance, pair census and street directories with employment and civic engagement. In the case of my fifth great-grandfather, Issac H. Anderson (1835 – 1906), his amazing life is highlighted by overcoming slavery to become a prominent businessman, religious and educational leader. It was his significant election to the Georgia Senate in 1867 that opened the door for me to learn about the unprecedented and perilous times for him and 32 other Black male pioneers. They were named the “Original 33, ” Black men who were among the first elected legislators in the United States.
“Original 33” marker to honor the Black men elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1867
Following ancestor Anderson’s life led me to his fellow Georgia Senator, African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishiop Henry McNeil Turner (1834 – 1915).
Faith and Fire
One hundred and fifty-seven years ago this month (Sept. 3, 1868), a newly elected Georgia State Senator, delivered a “fiery” speech to his Republican Party colleagues who unanimously voted to expel the 33 Black members based on the color of their skin. Upon the start of the 1868 Georgia legislative session, the white lawmakers immediately expelled the delegation of Black men based on the color of their skin and their slave lineage. Bishop Turner officially addressed his remarks to the Speaker of the House.
Rev. Henry McNeal Turner’s famous speech to the Georgia General Assembly 1868
Excerpts of Bishop Turner’s remarks
“Mr. Speaker: Before proceeding to argue this question upon its intrinsic merits, I wish the members of this House to understand the position that I take. I hold that I am a member of this body. Therefore, sir, I shall neither fawn nor cringe before any party, nor stoop to beg them for my rights. Some of my colored fellow members, in the course of their remarks, took occasion to appeal to the sympathies of members on the opposite side, and to eulogize their character for magnanimity. It reminds me very much, sir, of slaves begging under the lash. I am here to demand my rights and to hurl thunderbolts at the men who would dare to cross the threshold of my manhood. There is an old aphorism which says, “”fight the devil with fire,” and if I should observe the rule in this instance, I wish gentlemen to understand that it is but fighting them with their own weapon.”
And
“Whose legislature is this? Is it a white man’s legislature, or is it a black man’s legislature? Who voted for a constitutional convention, in obedience to the mandate of the Congress of the United States? Who first rallied around the standard of Reconstruction? Who set the ball of loyalty rolling in the state of Georgia? And whose voice was heard on the hills and in the valleys of this state? It was the voice of the brawny armed Negro, with the few humanitarian hearted white men who came to our assistance. I claim the honor, sir, of having been the instrument of convincing hundreds yea, thousands of white men, that to reconstruct under the measures of the United States Congress was the safest and the best course for the interest of the state.”
‘Am I not a man?’
Bishop Turner continued with, “The great question, sir, is this: Am I a man? If I am such, I claim the rights of a man. Am I not a man because I happen to be of a darker hue than honorable gentlemen around me? ”
He ended his lengthy manuscript and spoken word in a summary commitment to receive justice from another source for what the expulsion from the Georgia House and Senate. “You may expel us, gentlemen, by your votes, today; but, while you do it, remember that there is a just God in Heaven, whose All-Seeing Eye beholds alike the acts of the oppressor and the oppressed, and who, despite the machinations of the wicked, never fails to vindicate the cause of Justice, and the sanctity of His own handiwork.”
Justice restored
The men took their cases to the federal and state high courts. In June 1869, the Georgia Supreme Court rules that the Black men were allowed to hold a public office. Although my ancestor Anderson was not restored to his seat due to a technicality involving a perceived conflict, 27 of the 33 men were placed in their seats by U.S. General Alfred Terry. The newly installed Black men made a huge difference in enacting Georgia laws, including establishing the public school system.
Original 33 Decision of the Georgia Supreme Court in 1869
Needed info for ancestry researchers
The actions of Bishop Turner deeply shaped the human rights path of my ancestor, Anderson. Though Anderson achieved prominence as a businessman, co-founder of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and a founding leader of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, he never wavered in his activism. He supported college students in their peaceful protests and helped countless Black Georgians find safe passage to new lives in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Discovering Turner as Anderson’s close colleague highlighted not only my ancestor’s choices after the turbulent Reconstruction years of 1868–1870 but also the broader struggle they remained committed to wage together. For today’s ancestry researchers, the lesson is clear: Just as neighbors listed in census records can reveal hidden family ties, the colleagues and allies of our ancestors—whether in business, politics, civic life, or education—can unlock powerful insights into their purpose and movements. By tracing these networks, we move closer to understanding the full story of those who came before us.
Remember what our ancestor left us
In the end, our African Diasporan ancestors’ stories are rarely one-sided. The stories born from the lives of our ancestor are woven with the lives of neighbors, friends, and business, church, civic colleagues. By following those tracks, we honor our ancestors’ journeys and importantly, uncover the deeper legacy they left us.