Hartman Turnbow

Turnbow died on August 15, 1988 at the Methodist Hospital of Middle Mississippi in Lexington at the age of 83. His funeral was held on August 24 at Rock of Ages Church of God in Christ in Tchula. Elder Fred Wade officiated with interment in the Pinkston Cemetery north of Lexington.

In April 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was founded. Turnbow was elected delegate of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he testified his personal accounts with voter suppression.  Turnbow spoke in an unusual way that is now known as “Turnbowisms” and had a tendency to utter malapropisms, as he once referred to Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as the “student violent non-coordinated committee.” Yet he knew how to deliver powerful speeches and act as an inspirational leader for others.

SNCC’s Joyce Ladner accompanied Turnbow and his wife in Atlantic City for the 1964 Democratic National Convention.  She recalls, “Mrs. Turnbow always carried a little brown paper bag. She had a pistol in it. […] But she didn’t trust those people. I mean people had tried to firebomb her home, so she might have been in the presence of a senator and a congresswoman, but she carried a gun.”

On April 9, 1963, Turnbow, with a group of 13 other African Americans, including Hollis Watkins, Ozell Mitchell, and Alma Mitchell Carnegie arrived at the Holmes County, Mississippi courthouse in Lexington in an attempt to register to vote. This group became known as the “First Fourteen”.

In May 1963, Turnbow fought off an attack on his family and himself with rifle fire.  Being consistent with the foundation of the freedom movement, Turnbow explained, “I wasn’t being non-nonviolent, I was just protectin’ my family.” In this instance, Turnbow exercised his right to private self-defense just like Fannie Lou Hamer.

On May 7, 1963, Turnbow and his wife Dee took their daughter to choir practice at 7:00 pm. The family returned home around 9:30 pm, when Dee noticed a vent was open in the kitchen ceiling. A quick search around the house was done, but nothing was found so the Turnbow family went to sleep. Around 3:00 am on the morning of May 8, Turnbow was awakened by the sound of an explosion, flames, and smoke.  His wife and daughter ran outside while two men started to shoot at Turnbow.  Turnbow, with his .22 sixteen-shooter rifle in hand, shot back at the two assailants until he emptied that .22 rifle. The two white men ran away while Turnbow and his family spent the next few hours getting the flames under control.

Hartman Turnbow (March 20, 1905 – August 15, 1988) was a Mississippi farmer, orator, and activist during the Civil Rights Movement. On April 9, 1963, Turnbow was one of the first African Americans to attempt to register to vote in Mississippi, along with a group called the “First Fourteen”.

Turnbow was born on March 20, 1905 in Mileston, Mississippi. His grandparents were former slaves and he inherited their farm. He moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met and married his second wife Dee. They returned to Mississippi with their children, settling in Tchula, where he became an independent farmer and owned his land.