The Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society (E-PCHS) has announced publication of The Countryman: The Life and Times of Joseph Addison Turner III, Civil War Editor, a 350-page book about Turner and his famous mid-19th-century newspaper published in Putnam County.
The book represents a five-year-long effort for author Nancy Wood Waller, who will present her new work for the first time in a free author’s talk beginning at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 12, at Georgia Writers Museum, in Eatonton.
A reception featuring sales of the book, signed on-site by the author, will follow. Admission is free. Copies of the book can also be ordered from E-PCHS President Jim Marshall at 404-210-4979.
Waller is the greatgreat- granddaughter of Joseph Addison Turner III, and the daughter of Frances Turner Wood, who in 1995 wrote Faith of Our Fathers, presenting the history of Eatonton’s First Methodist Church.
Waller has held a lifelong goal of writing a book about Turner by diving deeply into his newspaper, The Countryman, as well as his private journals. Much of the material she found has never previously been made public, yielding a fascinating look into Turner’s aspirations, intimate thoughts, and personal struggles before, during, and after the Civil War.
Some might call Turner “eccentric.” He lived in remote Putnam County, overcame a painful childhood disability, studied foreign languages, educated himself by reading from his father’s 2,000-volume library, practiced law, wrote newspaper articles and poetry, taught school, served two years in the Georgia legislature, and ran a hat factory on his plantation while also publishing The Countryman. The newspaper was his crowning achievement, hailed throughout the South, and the only known newspaper published on a Southern plantation.
Turner also mentored Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote and later published the now-world-famous Uncle Remus tales he heard from enslaved servants during his time at Turnwold Plantation.
Readers of The Countryman: The Life and Times of Joseph Addison Turner III, Civil War Editor, will receive eyewitness accounts of federal troops invading Turnwold and surrounding areas.
Also included are Putnam County’s contributions to the war effort, including her sons who fought in the Civil War, such as Joe Turner’s own brother, William, who fought with the Putnam County Brown Rifles in Virginia.
Readers will also chuckle at Joe’s observations of human nature, and perhaps even shed a tear for the hardships and tragedies that beset many Putnam Countians during this turbulent, nationbuilding era.
Waller has written as a journalist, paying dedication to the facts. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska and a master’s in communications from the University of Tennessee. She also received an Associated Press Award for spot news reporting.
Please contact Marshall at 404-210-4979 to confirm attendance for this free event, Nov. 12 at Georgia Writers Museum (109 S. Jefferson Ave., Eatonton).
James Marshall is president of the Eatonton Historical Society and a recipient of the Governor’s Award in the Humanities.