Newberry in Newberry County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Henry McNeal Turner
Henry McNeal Turner
1834 - 1915
Birthplace: Newberry, South Carolina - Boyhood Home: Abbeville, South Carolina
Missionary Pioneer to South Africa, Liberation Theologian Social
and Political Activist, First Black United States Military Chaplain.
Consecrated Twelfth Bishop African Methodist Episcopal Church
Senior Bishop
Henry Wendell Murph
Active Bishops
John Hurst Adams Frederick Calhoun James Cornelius Egbert Thomas
Richard Allen Hidebrand Frank Madison Reid, Jr. James Haskell Mayo
Samuel Solomon Morris, Jr. Frank Curtis Cummings Harold Benjamin Senatle
Frederick Hilborn Talbot Philip Robert Cousin Robert Lee Pruitt
Hamel Hartford Brookins Donald George Ming Henry Allen Belin, Jr.
Vinton Randolph Anderson Rembert Edwards Stokes Vernon Randolph Byrd
Retired Bishops
Decatur Ward Nichols Ernest Lawrence Hickman Harold Irvin Bearden
Howard Thomas Primm Harrison James Bryant Hubert Nelson Robinson
Miller Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Newberry, South Carolina
March 15, 1987
Erected 1987 by Miller Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion. In addition, it is included in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church series list. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1982.
Location. 34° 16.104′ N, 81° 36.887′ W. Marker is in Newberry, South Carolina, in Newberry County. Marker is on Caldwell Street near Player Street, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 500 Caldwell Street, Newberry SC 29108, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Calvin Crozier Murder Site (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); Newberry Village Cemetery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Mollohon Mill and Village (approx. half a mile away); Korean War (approx. half a mile away); Newberry (approx. half a mile away); Newberry County Confederate Monument (approx. half a mile away); Calvin Crozier (approx. half a mile away); Old Court House (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Newberry.
Regarding Henry McNeal Turner. Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915)
In 1834, Henry McNeal Turner was born free in South Carolina. He was taught to read and write, while working in a lawyer's office. turner received his license to preach in 1853 and was recruited as a traveling minister for the Methodist Episcopal Church. While at Trinity College in Baltimore, Turner studied Law, Greek, Hebrew, and theology. Alongside his spiritual growth was the development of his radical political views. As the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia, Bishop Turner was famous for projecting Black pride in his sermons; he was often quoted as stating, "God is a Negro." President Abraham Lincoln appointed Turner army chaplain -- the first Black man to be assigned the position. After the Civil War, Turner worked with the Freedman's Bureau in Georgia. In the 1868 elections, Turner was one of the several Black men elected to the state legislature who served briefly before being expelled as a result of white protests. (Source:
If We Must Die: African
American Voices on War and Peace by Karin L. Stanford [2009] pg 92.)
Miller Church
This church, founded in 1867, was one of the first A.M.E. churches north of Columbia. It was organized when black Methodists in Newberry sent Carolina Brown and Winnie Simmons to Columbia for the third annual meeting of the South Carolina Conference of the A.M.E. Church. They asked Rev. Simeon Miller to serve their new church and later named it for him. Rev. Hiram Young was the first presiding elder.
The congregation first held its services in a cotton warehouse, but acquired this lot and built a church of their own in 1869-70. In 1870, when Miller Chapel A.M.E. Church hosted the first meeting of the Columbia Conference, conference delegates voted to found Payne Institute (now Allen University). This church, later enlarged several times, was covered in brick veneer in the 1970s. (The Newberry County African American Heritage Committee)
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. study marker shown.
Also see . . . Henry McNeal Turner , Wikipedia entry. He received his preacher's license from the Methodist Church South in 1853. He traveled through the south for a few years as an evangelist and married in 1856. He later had 14 children. (Submitted on May 4, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on May 4, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,672 times since then and 93 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 4, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 6. submitted on May 5, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.