TURNER, Edward, jurist, born in Fairfax county, Virginia, 25 November, 1778; died in Natchez, Mississippi, 23 May, 1860. He was educated at Transylvania university and studied law. In 1802 he emigrated to Mississippi and settled in Natchez, where he began the practice of his profession. The governor of the territory appointed Turner his aide-de-camp, and soon afterward he became clerk of the territorial house of representatives, also acting as the governor's private secretary. In 1803 he was appointed register of the land-office, and in 1811 he was elected to the legislature from Warren county. He was chosen city magistrate of Natchez and president of the board of select-men in 1813, and after 1815 was sent for several terms to the legislature as a representative from Adams county. In 1818 he was elected to the first legislature that assembled under the state government, and, except for one year, when he was attorney-general of the state, he continued a member of the house until 1822, during which time he was twice elected speaker, he was appointed judge of the criminal court of Adams county in 1822, in 1824 judge of the supreme court of Mississippi, and in 1829 chief justice, which place he held until he was superseded by the amended constitution of 1832. He was chancellor of the state from 1834 till 1839, in 1840 was again elected judge of the supreme court, and at the expiration of his term in 1843 was chosen to the state senate. Judge Turner was appointed in 1815 by the legislature to prepare a digest of the statute laws of the territory, which was completed and adopted in 1816. This digest contains all the statutes in force at that period, and is entitled "Statutes of the Mississippi Territory " (Natchez, 1816).